Family Means Nobody Gets Left Behind
by ForeversNobody
Summary: He had given up on wishing for a family years ago, long before he found out he was a wizard and the horrible truth about his parents' fate. But sometimes, Gods are just as good at procrastinating as humans - but they do get to their duties, eventually.
1. Chapter 1

7

**Family Means Nobody Gets Left Behind**

By: ForeversNobody

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harry Potter (that wonderful universe belongs to Ms. Rowling); nor do I own Gundam Wing (I believe that honor still lies with Bandai, but I could be wrong – their website is being difficult and not letting me do searches to see…)

**Rating/Warning:** uuuuummmm, imma have to go with M, just cuz I like to swear and also, I plan on making this a slash fic and therefore give as many lemons (and limes) as I want and/or as my readers request… I will warn you at the beginning of chapters which ones will contain lemons/limes

**Authors Ramblings:** I appreciate constructive criticism and reviews – including, but not limited to requests or thoughts on how a scene should go – but flames will be summarily ignored and deleted… you don't like, you don't have to read past the chapter you stumbled upon, and if you do decide to read the whole thing and still wanna flame? Well – it's your own fault for being retarded and reading through a whole story you hated! Duh! It's not like I super-glued it to your hands and _forced_ you to read it! It is possible to stop reading! Hell, I did it with the _**gag**_ Twilight series (though, in my defense, I was sorta forced to read it outloud, but that is neither here nor there!)

I am American who has never traveled out of my country (even to Canada – I know, sad), but I will try my hardest to stick to British slang and customs – feel free to correct me if I get it wrong!

Oh! And _'Italics'_ is thoughts

**Genre: **Angst/Romance/Action/Adventure

**Pairing(s):** yeeeeeeaaaaa – imma let you figure that out on your own for now ;)

**Summary**: He had given up on wishing for a new family years ago – long before he found out he was a wizard and the horrible truth about what had happened to his parents. But sometimes, Gods are just as good at procrastinating as humans – but they get to their duties, eventually.

* * *

_CHAPTER 1  
_

Summers were always hard. Even with the threat of Sirius, which admittedly had only started last year, the Dursleys figured out early on that if they monitored his letters, they could get away with anything – short of murder. Needless to say, Harry was not looking forward to his summer.

Watching the other cars pass by on the way home from Kings Cross was by no means enthralling, but at least it helped him drown out Dudley and ignore his aunt and uncle.

Pulling onto Privet Drive, Harry noticed the cars first because they were parked on the street – resident were too finicky about the appearance of their neighborhood to park on the street. When they got closer, he noticed the official seal on the doors. _ESUN?_ That peaked his interest, but passing by, they were empty. _So much for a bit of excitement__._ "BOY!" Harry jumped and twisted around in his seat. "Get out of the car! Your _things_ are to be locked away immediately and then you're to go to your Aunt for your chore list – _no dawdling_, you hear?!" Vernon Dursley's face wasn't quite its 'normal' puce – but the summer was young yet. "MOVE!" Harry scrambled for the door handle and stumbled out of the car. Regaining his equilibrium, Harry walked to the boot to get his trunk and Hedwig's collapsed cage. Vernon had glared so hard at her when Harry had gotten off the train, that he felt it was safer all around to release her and send her to Ron until his birthday.

Anticipating Uncle Vernon's orders, Harry had enlisted Ron and Hermione's help to cast two time-released charms – a feather-light on his trunk and a shrinking charm on some of his more personal things (invisibility cloak, photo album and some class work) – that were set to release tonight at midnight. This gave him ample time to bring it all inside, store it and not have to face the wrath of his relatives.

Pretending to drag an extremely heavy trunk to the door, Harry noticed that his relatives had stopped before going inside and were speaking with two uniformed men that Harry didn't recognize. Thinking they were delivering some sales pitch, he continued to 'struggle' with his things, but upon closer listening Harry figured out he was wrong. "…just some information on how and where to register."

"Now see here! We know where all of our family is, why would we have to register for this thing?!" Vernon Dursley didn't like being told what to do and was looking very put-upon. Realization dawned on Harry that having 'the boy' home today and this on top would not mean a good day, so he wisely decided to just fade into the background. Starting on his chores early sounded good. Stopping briefly and going over what he had just thought again, Harry figured the stress of being home was already getting to him if he _wanted_ to do his chores.

"I'm sorry sir, but it was signed into law on the 14th of March of this year. Because it's such a daunting task, we've had to section things and that is why it took us so long to get the information to you. This week happens to be Surrey's designated week. You'll need to come down sometime between today and Friday. Now, I just need to confirm some things in our system – so we can do this on your doorstep, or we can go inside and sit down for five minutes, it's up to you." The Preventers either didn't notice that Vernon was livid or they just didn't care – Harry was betting on the latter and had to stifle a snicker.

Petunia chose then to step in and prevent Vernon from being arrested "As you can see, we just arrived home – but if you'll give us a moment to compose ourselves, I believe I can have some proper tea set up and we can get this whole situation sorted out. Gentlemen?" She gestured for the officers to follow her and Vernon inside.

Watching his aunt lead the way into the kitchen, Harry figured he'd have a couple of minutes to himself while they sorted this out before he had to start his chores. He smiled to himself – he might even be able to sneak his trunk upstairs and get some more things out if it while his Aunt and Uncle were occupied.

Before he could get past the first couple of steps, one of the Preventers stopped him. "Sorry kid, we need the whole family here for this, please." He gestured for Harry to precede him into the kitchen. Harry sighed, but changed direction – dragging his trunk to the cupboard with him - and headed towards the kitchen ahead of the Preventer. Entering the kitchen, Aunt Petunia was at the stove counter setting up the tea with Uncle Vernon, Dudley and the other Preventer were sitting at the table.

"Now, you're going to need to bring these forms with you when you come down to Headquarters, so we'll just fill in the basic areas and the rest will be taken care of when you come in." The Preventer seemed to be immune to Uncle Vernon's glare and was polite when Aunt Petunia served the tea. "All we need right now are your full names, dates of birth, address, contact phone numbers and Citizen Identification Numbers.(1)"

The first Preventer, an Agent Stanson, pulled out four forms and passed one to each of the Dursleys. He looked over at Harry who was leaning against the wall and smiled "Well, since we all seem to be taking up the table, why don't you just tell me your information and then I'll just have you sign it when we're done?"

Harry shrugged. "Harry James Potter. Born - "

"Potter? Not Dursley?" Harry resisted the urge to shudder.

"No. I am his Maternal Aunt. My sister - passed away 14 years ago." Aunt Petunia cut in with a clipped voice. .

Agent Stanson looked confused for a moment before pulling out his pocket vid phone. "Did you adopt Mr. Potter?" He asked without looking up "Because we have no records of that…"

Uncle Vernon sat straighter and looked like he was going to rant at them, but Aunt Petunia once again cut in "No, but we are his legal guardians – I have all of his paperwork if you need it." Her tone of voice suggested she thought he _shouldn't_ need it, but the second Preventer – Agent Ngala – nodded.

"That would be good, Ma'am." Petunia looked put-upon, but stalked off upstairs.

She came back a couple of minutes later carrying a firebox just as Vernon, Dudley and Harry finished filling out their forms. Placing the box on the table, she shifted through the papers and soon came up with a birth certificate and guardianship papers. Harry was confused as to when or how she got these things – on top of the fact that he was moderately sure that he was born at St. Mungos. His mind was racing trying to come up with plausible answers his Aunt might think these Preventers would accept.

"I don't recognize the name of this clinic, is it local?" Agent Ngala was scrutinizing the paperwork. "Local to the city my sister and her family lived in at the time. It closed down a couple of years ago – we got a call to make sure we had all the original paperwork for him before their copies were destroyed." Agent Stanson nodded as Agent Ngala continued to peruse the guardianship papers.

"Well, this seems to be in order, but do you know why this was never processed with the ESUN?"

Uncle Vernon glared at the man like he was an idiot "Because the ESUN didn't exist, boy!"

Harry snickered as he watched Agent Ngala reign himself in and – it looked like – count to ten in his head, while Agent Stanson rolled his eyes heavenward and sighed inaudibly. "The actual ESUN may not have existed, sir" Agent Ngala replied, having apparently calmed himself. "However, we have all of the old Alliance records and what little info OZ had as well."

Aunt Petunia sniffed. "Well, it's not my responsibility! I assumed the – the _executor_ of the Potter's estate had taken care of it all!" At the word executor, she turned and glared at Harry, who took that to mean Aunt Petunia thought Dumbledore had taken care of everything, because he had set up all the paperwork that allowed Harry to exist in the muggle world. After all, the Dursleys hadn't had any trouble registering him for primary or secondary – even though he had never attended Stonewall Secondary.

Agent Ngala handed the papers back to Aunt Petunia, while Agent Stanson collected and organized the forms. "Now, these are all in order, but in light of the guardianship paperwork, I need you to come down and file them right away. You might as well all come down now, too, just to get this all out of the way." Agent Stanson said

"Now see here!" Uncle Vernon, outraged, was out of his chair and in Agent Stanson's face causing Harry to startle violently and flinch towards the door. "You can't just go around ordering ordinary, law-abiding citizens to give up their day on a whim like this! We'll come down when we're ready and have it planned out!"

Agent Ngala stood up and faced Uncle Vernon. "Sir. We can and just did – not having this paperwork filed is a severe offense, we could legally take your nephew _and _ your son from you for this. Or we could just take you into custody right now if you refuse to cooperate. So, which is it going to be – the easy way or your way?"

Harry wanted desperately to run from the room before Uncle Vernon remembered that he was there and started using him as a stress relief, but he knew that as soon as he moved, Uncle Vernon's eyes would be on him.

His fears turned out to be unfounded as Aunt Petunia once again diffused the situation. "FINE! We'll go." She paused for the dramatic effect "Are we at least allowed to take our own car?"

Both agents relaxed visibly. "Certainly, Ma'am. But to make things more comfortable for at least one direction, why don't you and your nephew ride with us?" Agent Stanson asked, though by the tone of his voice, Harry could tell it wasn't really a request. Harry figured they didn't buy the whole 'unfiled paperwork due to verbal misunderstanding' and were looking for excuses to get answers out of him and his Aunt without Uncle Vernon present.

* * *

The car ride was quite uneventful – the Preventers didn't actually question them too much, beyond some more general info on how there was such a large misunderstanding between Petunia and the 'lawyer' or executor of the Potters' wills. Harry couldn't decide if this was a good thing or a bad thing. The Preventers did make a couple of radio calls ahead to, Harry assumed, notify the lab and Child Service departments that they were on their way in with a civilian family. Harry had to guess at a lot of what was being said, as they were using mostly number codes to relay information.

The Preventers London Headquarters was big – 3-4 stories in some places, but still very non-descript. The whole thing was a dark gray – similar to the stonework for really old, weather-beaten castles. The inside, however, appeared to be state-of-the-art. Key and fingerprint pads were the only ways to open a lot of the doors. There were also metal detectors, as well as x-ray machines – the Preventers went through a significantly less invasive scan than Harry or the Dursleys.

Harry had to duck his head to hide the mad giggle that wanted to escape at one point because Uncle Vernon was trying, and failing, not to get explosively mad as he underwent the most invasive scan. _One of those vid calls must have been to warn these guys to double check him._ Agent Ngala noticed Harry's response and winked at him.

The walk to the lab was winding, but didn't take nearly as long as Harry assumed it would. Then he remembered the Preventers probably had to deal with a lot of Uncle Vernon-type people and a long walk would mean more time listening to them bitch and moan – which was exactly what his Uncle was doing now. Thankfully, it was mostly to Aunt Petunia and under his breath – at least he had some form of self-preservation instinct.

Once inside the laboratory's waiting area, both of their Preventer escorts froze and immediately stood at attention. A woman wearing her dirty blonde hair in two elegant twists that fell over both of her shoulders was approaching them.

She stopped and returned their salutes before speaking. "Gentlemen. At ease"

"Major Po! We were unaware you were going to be working today." Agent Ngala finally said, while Agent Stanson looked to be at a loss for words.

"Technically I'm not – I'm just here to pick up the latest batch of blood samples to be entered into the database." She held up a large dark green cooler.

"Oh, well – would you mind waiting another couple of minutes? We were just escorting this family in to do just that, and I'm sure they'd appreciate the expediency." Here Agent Ngala looked pointedly at Uncle Vernon, who was visibly agitated.

Major Po gave the Preventers a wry smile. "Sure. It shouldn't hurt the samples any if I wait another few minutes."

Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon were called in first, followed by Dudley and then Harry. Harry couldn't honestly compare muggle medicine to magical – the procedures were just too different. He did, however, appreciate the muggles' tendency to warn you when something was going to hurt or taste disgusting. Mediwizards just sort of assumed you knew and therefore didn't both warning their patients. He winced at the pin prick, but smiled at the nurse as she taped the gauze over the needle mark and gave him a lolly as he walked out.

* * *

In the car on the way home, Harry realized that between the blood samples and stopping off at Child Services department to file the paperwork, they had only been at Preventers HQ for just over an hour. Harry snorted _Uncle Vernon bitching and moaning delayed us more than it took to get to HQ, get everything squared away and back on our way home!_

Once again, Harry realized too late that they were back Privet Dr. and in the Dursley's driveway. This time, however, he was not simple yelled at to get out of the car – the door he was leaning against was unceremoniously ripped open. Harry threw his hands out to brace his fall against the pavement and succeeded in protecting his face. His legs, though, has gotten tangled up in the sweater Dudley had taken off during the trip home and thrown at Harry's feet so that he 'didn't have to be bothered with it anymore'. In the split second he had to react, Harry hadn't remembered this until he felt something snap in his left ankle as he tumbled to the asphalt. He didn't cry out – he knew better – be he couldn't stop the wince or sharp inhalation.

"Get up, you stupid boy!" His Aunt's shriek was quieter than usual, but Harry just chalked it up to the fact that they were still outside.

Struggling to stand on his broken ankle, Harry was at least glad that he hadn't hurt his hands or wrists – he would be in serious trouble if he couldn't use his hands. At least he could use the walls and banisters to get around on one foot. Hobbling through the front door, Uncle Vernon shoved him from behind and sent him sprawling through the kitchen door causing him to crash to the floor and go skidding across the linoleum until his back ended up pressed against the cabinets. "Get up and get outside _right now_ and start your chores! I don't even want to _**think**_ I hear you until dinner time, got it?!" Uncle Vernon hollered as he stalked over to the kitchen table. Aunt Petunia sneered at him as she dug into the ice box pulling out things to make an afternoon snack for Dudley and Vernon.

Harry sighed as he let his head bang lightly back onto the cabinets. _Welcome home._

**Chapter End: TBC**

**

* * *

  
**

AN: 1 – in the USA, the government uses Social Security Numbers [SSN] to serve as forms of ID and help with retirement funds to all citizens. The idea being that you pay into Social Security and get that money back when you retire as a sort of pension; its not looking good for future generations. Anyhoo, these SSNs also serve as ways of proving identity and help the government keep track of the number of legal citizens. I chose to assume that England/Great Britain uses something similar, though I do not know for sure and therefore just made something up - feel free to correct me and let me know if there is such a thing and I will change it!


	2. Chapter 2

**Family Means Nobody Gets Left Behind**

By: ForeversNobody

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harry Potter (that wonderful universe belongs to Ms. Rowling); nor do I own Gundam Wing (I believe that honor still lies with Bandai, but I could be wrong – their website is being difficult and not letting me do searches to see…)

**NOTE!! This disclaimer applies to the rest of the fic! I will not be posting it again

**Rating/Warning:** uuuuummmm, imma have to go with M, just cuz I like to swear and also, I plan on making this a slash fic and therefore give as many lemons (and limes) as I want and/or as my readers request… I will warn you at the beginning of chapters which ones will contain lemons/limes

**Authors Ramblings:** Ok, so I love the Harry Potter series, as written by the wonderful Mrs. Rowling, but I do have one bone to pick with her – Harry was too well adjusted to 'normal' society. Seriously, the kid was _locked in a cupboard_ for 10 years, verbally and mentally abused for as many and hell – in one scene in the second book, Petunia swung a **frying pan at his **_**head.**_ Tell me you could have survived that and been perfectly normal and I'll call you a liar to your face. Now, I'm not saying every child is going to be severely fucked up, but they're going to have issues with proximity to other people and affection because they have been deprived of it for so long.

Well, sry about that – that's my degree in Social Work speaking. My inner worker gets indignant a lot, lol.

I am American who has never traveled out of my country (even to Canada – I know, sad), but I will try my hardest to stick to British slang and customs – feel free to correct me if I get it wrong!

Oh, and I apologize in advance! My beta is at her parents for the holidays and therefore can't get online, so this is unchecked, except by myself. I'll have her fix it later, but I just wanted to get this out there for you guys! Enjoy and HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

**Genre: **Angst/Romance/Action/Adventure

**Pairing(s):** yeeeeeeaaaaa – imma let you figure that out on your own for now ;)

**Summary**: He had given up on wishing for a new family years ago – long before he found out he was a wizard and the horrible truth about what had happened to his parents. But sometimes, Gods are just as good at procrastinating as humans – but they get to their duties, eventually.

* * *

_Chapter 2:_

Normally, the resulting DNA matches from the Family Reconstruction Act are sent to the people and/or families at their homes – imagine the headache if they were all sent to the Preventers. However, this particular match only listed one family, the other section was headed CLASSIFIED and only listed an Agent's ID number. Knowing that any information on the Special Agents, which consisted of the top 200 Agents within all of Preventers, could only be seen by certain people within the agency, Major Sally Po assumed this had something to do with the twelve Special Agents situated here in London. She didn't automatically recognize the number, but that didn't mean anything because she dealt with so many on a daily basis. Typing the number into the database, she froze, staring at the results in her hand vs. the info the computer had brought up in disbelief.

This couldn't be right, it had to have been a mistake. She picked up the phone and called the F.R.A. Database Center in Ireland.

The lab tech seemed confused as to why they were re-doing a test, but shrugged and said they would have it back in a couple of weeks.

* * *

Sally was once again staring at the results in her hand, not quite believing what she was reading. Putting in another call to the Lab in Ireland, the tech she spoke to was not so understanding this time – especially when Sally inquired about possible cross-contamination. Deciding to cut her loses, Sally asked for the remaining samples to be overnighted to her in London so she could test them again herself.

* * *

The samples arrived the next morning and Sally set to work. With no other similar tests being done, the results were ready by the end of the weekend.

Giddy with a multitude of emotions – shock, excitement and nervous energy – Sally made her way up to the Director's office with all three result sheets.

Being the Director for the Preventers had its perks and benefits, most people were too afraid to approach her. However, there were a few people who were comfortable enough in their ability to get the hell out of dodge and slip out of difficult situations like they were covered in butter; people who were not afraid to do as they pleased, even in her presence. Major Sally Po was one of them.

Paying no heed to the frantic secretary trying to stop her, Sally barged into Commander Une's office. She marched right up to Une's desk and tossed the results on top of the papers Une had been reading. "You are _not_ going to believe this."

Noting the letter head on the results, Une raised her eyebrow. "Any particular reason I'm looking at these? Because I know all of my family." Picking up the file, she sifted through to the personal information page. Unlike Sally, she immediately recognized the Agent ID number – her head shot up. "You're sure about this? We can't go to them with a hoax or a mix up."

Sally's grin didn't diminish. "I had the Lab check it twice and I checked it myself a third time. It's a positive match." She was practically vibrating in place.

Une flipped back to the other relation's page and came across the family that supposedly matched one of her top agents. "Well, we'll need to call of them in at once to notify him – they're practically fam - " She cut herself off sharply to stare at the names. The family name alone didn't mean anything, but compared with the name of their nephew – to say Une was shocked was an understatement.

"You're absolutely positive – there's no doubt what-so-ever in your mind? Not even a fraction of a percent?" Une barked. First it was one of her top agents – now this? She hoped this was the last of the 'good news' – she wasn't sure she could take anymore heart-stopping jolts without serious repercussions to her health.

Sally was confused at Commander Une's sudden reaction, but nodded any way. "Like I said, it was triple checked." She snorted. "I didn't believe it at first either, hence the double check at the lab and the fact that I personally tested it. You should have seen the faces of the lab techs – there were not happy when I asked about cross-contamination."

Une snorted. "No, I would think not." She sighed "Well, there's nothing for it, we'll have to notify him – _them_ - and then this family." She looked up at Sally. "This isn't protocol, but I'd prefer they all hear it from me first and that it doesn't get out to the general populace until _they_ deem it should, okay?"

Sally nodded and turned to walk out at the clear dismissal. "Good luck." She called over her shoulder, not bothering to hide her amusement.

Une looked at the results again. "I'm going to need a hell of a lot more than luck."

Sifting through the paperwork again, she pulled out the contact information for a Mr. and Mrs. Vernon Dursley. Dialing the number, she couldn't help but anticipate the reaction her news would bring from her agents and the family she was contacting too – praying it was a favorable outcome. Little knowing the jinx she had just placed on herself was nothing compared to the headache she was going to encounter when Mrs. Dursley answered the line.

* * *

Petunia was livid. First the brat hadn't woken up on time, so breakfast was late, and then he had gone and broken one of her favorite dishes because her Diddykins had walked by! And now he was in the garden, supposedly weeding, but instead he was_ digging up her rose bush!!_ She stormed outside. "What the _devil_ are you doing, you freak?! I just had that planted!!"

Harry jerked backwards, but was unable to fully avoid the swing his aunt was taking at his hands – she caught the top of his still injured wrist. His 'tumble' to the kitchen floor at the beginning of the summer wasn't overly damaging, but his constant chore list and therefore inability to let it rest was not helping.

Overbalancing, he plopped onto his butt and immediately threw his hands up to cover his head from the rebound swing Aunt Petunia had aimed. "Wait! Aunt Petunia, I can explain!"

She stood facing him with her hands on her hips. "Well?!"

"I wasn't getting rid of it! Honest! I've been –" he froze and did some quick thinking on the rest of his sentence. Even though he wasn't going to school with Dudley anymore, his Aunt and Uncle did not like him knowing more than Dudley, but there was no way out of this. "I've been reading up on gardening to help me and this isn't the right soil for the Roses, so I was just going to move them to the other side of the yard so it won't die."

Petunia looked like she wanted to berate him some more, but was having difficulty finding the words. Then the phone rang. She settled on glaring. "You better have that rose replanted and be finishing these chores before I come back, you hear?!"

Harry quickly nodded, then tracked her progress back into the house, before allowing himself to flop backwards and cradle his wrist.

"Well, well – what do we have here? Slacking on your chores, freak? Wait 'til Dad hears you disobeyed Mum." Dudley's was obviously sneering and his words were echoed by multiple people snickering.

Harry groaned. _Great, I still can't run on this ankle and now with my wrist, I'm not sure I'll be able to block them if they decide they want to practice Boxing today._ Turning his head, he noticed that Dudley had almost all of his gang with him. He didn't even have time to realize what was happening, let alone react, before Dudley's foot connected solidly with the left side of his rib cage. Doubling over to wrap his arms around his torso, Harry missed the second foot coming as it connected with his face.

"This is boring – look, he's not even fighting back. Let's go to the park or something – there's bound to be more kids there." That was definitely Piers' voice, but Harry couldn't be bothered to pay attention to the rest of the conversation as their voices got quieter. His ribs were throbbing – thankfully they didn't feel broken – and his glasses had cracked again down the center. Figuring his Aunt would be a bit longer, Harry decided just lying there for another couple of minutes would be ok.

He must have lost track of time and been laying there for longer than he thought, because the next thing he knew Aunt Petunia was shrieking at him. "What in Gods name do you think you're doing, you good for nothing brat!! This garden needs to be finished TODAY, not next week!!" She stalked over and delivered another vicious kick to his ribs, though this time on the right side.

Harry coughed violently and rolled to the side. _Well, at least I match now._

"Get UP!" Aunt Petunia's face was beginning to match Uncle Vernon's on a good day, so Harry decided he better not push his luck.

"Yes, Aunt Petunia." Harry rolled up onto his knees, forcing himself to ignore the shooting pain in his ribs and ankle. Aunt Petunia seemed satisfied with his progress and went back into the house. Grabbing the tape out of his back pocket, he set to fixing his glasses before grabbing the rose bush and setting back to work. _Only five more weeks left – maybe less, if I can get to Ron's for a week or so._

* * *

Une stared at the phone in her hand – it had begun to make that annoying off-the-hook noise. _Well, I can honestly say that's a first._ She finally replaced it on the cradle when the mechanical voice began instructing her to hang up if she needed to dial again.

_The phone only rang three times "Dursley residence." The female voice sounded stressed, but with forced politeness._

"_Mrs. Petunia Dursley, please." Commander Une decided being polite back might calm the woman on the other end._

_Instead, Petunia only sounded more wary when she answered. "Speaking. May I ask who is calling?"_

"_My name is Commander Ann Une of the Preventers. I understand you and your family came down to our office the other day –"_

_Petunia's feigned sincerity quickly disappeared as she cut the Director off. "Yes, we were rudely taken out of our home with no warning! I was assured that having the blood samples and filing the guardianship paper work – which, was not __my__ responsibility anyway! – was all we were required to do, so I hope there were no issues, or any more 'required trips' in the near future!"_

_Une sat back in her chair. "No, Ma'am, there were no problems that I'm aware of. However, we came across some interesting news recently that concerns your family. I understand you have guardianship of your younger sister's son – a Harry Potter?" Une paused and inhaled. "it appears that you have a second nephew, Ma'am-"_

"_WHAT?! Impossible! I have no other siblings than Lily – who is dead! Has been for 14 years!"_

"_I understand this must come as a shock, Ma'am, but I was hoping you and your nephew would be willing to come down to headquarters to discuss this further –"_

"_Absolutely not!" Petunia was up in arms now and Une was getting angry that she kept getting cut off. "You are wrong about this, it must be a mistake -!"_

"_I can assure, Mrs. Dursley, it is not.-" Une tried talking over her, but Petunia just got louder._

" – _will NOT have my family disrupted anymore! We already have the burden of looking after one freak! There's no way you are going to foist another off on me! Do NOT contact my family again!"_

Une was left staring at her phone. That in no way went as she had planned, but there was no way she was leaving it as it was – especially after that last comment.

She reached for her phone and pressed the page button for her secretary. "Marisol – please page Agent Pride for me. Have him double-time it to my office."

* * *

"Agent Pride, over here! Hi, my name is Agent Shaheem Jeffers. Commander Une asked me to be your driver and back up for today."

Chang Wufei observed the man in front of him. Agent Jeffers was roughly 5'9", 160lbs – and very, very green. Wufei lifted his chin a bit higher, this was the only 'mission' he would even _consider_ taking this other agent on as his back up. Jeffers was just not battle ready – thank god Une generally let them pick partners for missions.

As they both got into the car, Jeffers chattered on and on, but Wufei was a master at tuning it out. _Well, at least Maxwell's good for something._ He was still having trouble processing the information he had just had tossed on his lap. Wufei stared at the ID number on the top of the DNA results. It was a shock, to say the least. Both he and Winner knew their immediate and extended families and the others didn't really care. Although, Barton was still glad that when they had all entered their DNA into the F.R.A. system two years ago that he had found his last remaining relative – his sister. As for Yuy and Maxwell, well, they weren't holding their breath. After three years, the F.R.A. was almost finished – there were only a few dozen places left on Earth that the Preventers were checking for stragglers. The five of them had all but given up on finding anything new.

Wufei was glad that they had found something, but from the information Une had given him on the Aunt, he wasn't sure it was going to be. And that would be more crushing than not finding anything at all. His thoughts came to an abrupt halt, as he realized Jeffers had gone silent – and that the car had stopped.

"Alright, here's the deal." Agent Chang Wufei turned to Agent Jeffers "Commander Une informed me, and I'm assuming you as well, that the woman we are going to be speaking with can and will be difficult, but that her nephew apparently knows nothing of what's going on." Agent Jeffers frowned at that – by his understanding, the nephew was the brother of one of their agents (and a High one at that, if Agent Pride was involved), why wouldn't he have been informed? Jeffers just shook his head at some people's pigheadedness, got out of the car and followed Agent Pride to the front door of #4 Privet Drive.

Wufei was engrossed in the file he was reading, so Agent Jeffers knocked on the door.

* * *

Harry answered the door, trying not to limp or wince too noticeably. Two men were standing there, wearing the same uniforms of the people that had taken the family in for the blood tests at the beginning of the summer. _Preventers._ Harry remembered. The one on the left gave Harry a strange look, then peered down at his paperwork before his head shot back up once again, startling Harry into flinching back. Harry didn't, however, miss the tell-tale flick the Preventer's eyes did to his scar before settling back on his eyes. Harry sighed and stepped back to allow them entrance to the foyer.

Before either Harry or the dark-haired Asian Preventer could say anything, the one on the right asked "Is your mother home?" Harry gave him a revolted look. "Aunt Petunia! The Preventers are here." Hearing him through the door, Petunia came out of the kitchen glaring at him. "How many times have I told you not to holler, especially inside!…" She scolded. Harry hoped the two Preventers hadn't heard the muttered "ungrateful wretch" at the end of her sentence, but a quick glance in their direction and the dark haired one had his eyes narrowed at the woman.

"What can I do for you, gentlemen?" Petunia's glare didn't softened when her gaze shifted from Harry to the two Preventers. "I thought I was _quite _clear with your boss earlier that I didn't want you bothering my family any more!"

The Asian one gathered himself and spoke first. "My name is Agent Pride and this is Agent Jeffers. We're here, Mrs. Dursley, because we need you to come down to Preventers headquarters as Director Une informed you on the phone earlier today."

Petunia shot Harry another quick glare out of the corner of her eye this time, a clear signal to 'get lost'. Harry shrugged and turned to head upstairs, but Agent Chang – being closer – grabbed his arm to stop him. Chang's eyes narrowed even further when Harry couldn't suppress the barely noticeable flinch at the abrupt stop. "I believe this concerns you as well, Mr. Potter." Harry quirked an eyebrow at him, but stopped his ascent.

Petunia looked livid at the gall of this Preventer. "_**I**_ will determine what does and does not concern my family, as I have already informed your commander! BOY! Go upstairs – your chores are done for the day!" Harry wasn't given the opportunity to move, as Agent Chang had yet to let go of his arm.

Agent Jeffers was watching his aunt closely, as she stood there practically vibrating with rage. "Unfortunately, Mrs. Dursley, neither of you have a choice today. Director Une has some questions concerning the proper documentation for the custody of Mr. Potter." Petunia went pale, but nodded jerkily. "Fine. Boy, go change out of those filthy clothes, we will be _accompanying_ these gentlemen for the Preventer's London Headquarters." Harry raised an eyebrow at her, but complied.

Wufei's eyes followed the boy up the stairs. Even under the voluminous clothes, he could tell the boy was as waif-thin as Duo had been when they met all those years ago. Considering the difference in their childhoods, it didn't take him long to put the little snippets together to come up with at least mild neglect, if not out-right abuse. _No wonder Une was concerned._

Petunia dithered in the foyer for a couple of minutes, just glaring that the Preventers as if they had personally offended her, then apparently made up her mind. She retrieved her coat from the rack and gestured to Agent Jeffers to lead the way – apparently disregarding her nephew altogether after issuing her 'request'. Wufei gave the boy an extra two minutes, before decided to go track him down.

Harry had made it up the stairs and into his bedroom before his determination gave out and he collapsed against the now closed door. His ankle was throbbing – probably broken - and he couldn't breathe properly without searing pain - but his ribs only ached, there were no sharp pains, so that meant they were just bruised rather than broken – this time. Harry sighed. _Really_, he thought, _this is crazy! First Cedric and Voldemort and now Preventers - which will only make Uncle Vernon even more mad that I 'bothered' Aunt Petunia. _Harry snorted. _Not that it would matter that it's not my fault._ He sighed again and straightened away from the door. _Better get ready before they send the cavalry after me._ He made it to the foot of his bed when his ankle gave out again and he went crashing to the floor. Harry cursed his life for the N th time in the last month and just sat there on his knees, balancing on his knuckles, head hung.

As he gathered his strength and braced himself on the newel post to lever himself up, his door sprung open. Startling violently, Harry tried to simultaneously swing around and vault himself backwards – succeeding in only crashing spectacularly to the floor via the chest of drawers. His ribs protested the contact and Harry was pretty sure that he would not be able to bear weight on his ankle anytime in the near future. "Merlin…" He sighed and just let his head fall back against the chest of drawers.

Wufei hadn't meant to spook the boy – especially not that badly, but honestly, all he had done was open the door and it hadn't even been loudly or quickly at that. "Are you alright, Mr. Potter?" Wufei moved slowly into the room and over to the fallen 15yr old. Harry just sighed and nodded. "Then I suggest we get you off the floor and changed so that we can be on our way. Director Une does not like to be kept waiting."

"Yea, ok. Just – uh, I need some help getting up." Wufei gave him an odd look "I – uh, got into a fight earlier. With Dudley – my cousin. And I, uh, kinda came off the worse for wear, ya know?" Harry tried not to wince at the blatant lie, he was getting too good at it for his own liking, but at his age he had to be more creative. It wasn't uncommon for gangly teens to trip down stairs, but there are only so many times you can use that excuse. Wufei gave him that odd look again, but helped Harry to stand and hobble to the bed. Harry reached over and pulled some fresh clothes from the wardrobe and gave Agent Chang a pointed look. To his credit, Wufei only raised an eyebrow before turning around, but deliberately not leaving the room.

Harry cleared his throat to signal that he was all set. Wufei turned and helped him off the bed, down the stairs and out to the car. Making sure the teenager was set in the backseat comfortably, he sent a quick prayer to his ancestors for the strength to deal with the insufferable onna who was ranting on and on about the unfairness the Preventers were showing her law-abiding family by harassing them like this.

**Chapter End: TBC**

* * *

ANs: I just want to say THANKIES!!! To all my reviewers and ppl that faved and put my story on alert!! I didn't really anticipate having that many people enjoy my work! *blushes*

On a side note, I can not promise to update on a regular basis, but I CAN promise that you will get updates!! So far, I have this story only going through 5th year, with a possible epilogue to just give closure to the story.

Also, a quick explanation: Magic DOES exist on the colonies, however, even though each witch or wizard has a magical core, they draw on energy from the ley lines and the inherent earth magics prevent colony-borns from being properly grounded. Therefore, they have magic – they are not rendered squibs - but they need to be on earth for a certain number of years before their magical reserves are at an acceptable level to sustain life and usage.


	3. Chapter 3

**Family Means Nobody Gets Left Behind**

By: ForeversNobody

**Rating/Warning:** uuuuummmm, imma have to go with M, just cuz I like to swear and also, I plan on making this a slash fic and therefore give as many lemons (and limes) as I want and/or as my readers request… I will warn you at the beginning of chapters which ones will contain lemons/limes

**Authors Ramblings:** I just want to say thank you to all of my readers for being so patient with me. Many (if not all) of my reviewers were very understanding and sympathetic, when I know not a lot of people would have been [my current roommate being one of them ] but losing a member of the family – even a four legged one – is hard… Mags was with me from the time I was 12; she was there through everything – high school, college and even my main support when my father passed away when I was 21… its been hard adjusting to life without her. I still expect her to meet me at the door with a toy in her mouth, tail going saying 'c'mon sis! Let's play!'

Also, I will not be making any future promises on when chapters will be released – I can say I will try my hardest to make it more than once monthly, but my life is crazy and a rarely get a chance to get my ideas down on paper, let alone typed up on a computer! And hopefully future chapters will not be as stubborn as this one was – I swear it just did NOT want to be written -! By the time I got it down, I think there had been like 7 different versions written and re-written in my head.

I am American who has never traveled out of my country (even to Canada – I know, sad), but I will try my hardest to stick to British slang and customs – feel free to correct me if I get it wrong!

You'll have to excuse any and all mistakes as my Beta has taken an indefinite hiatus cuz her computer is not agreeing with her internet – technical problems abound! Lol so, if anyone is willing to beta, just PM me here and we'll go from there, k?

**Pairing(s):** yeeeeeeaaaaa – imma let you figure that out on your own for now ;)

**Summary**: He had given up on wishing for a new family years ago – long before he found out he was a wizard and the horrible truth about what had happened to his parents. But sometimes, Gods are just as good at procrastinating as humans – but they get to their duties, eventually.

* * *

**_Chapter 3:_**

The ride to the London Preventers Headquarters was not as long as it seemed, but Petunia Dursley knew how to rant and rave – which she did. The entire way. Agent Pride was glad he didn't have his side arm because he was sorely tempted to use it.

He got sympathetic looks from her nephew whenever they caught eyes and from the guards at the security check point as they went through. The woman was just going on and on and on! How rude they were, how this was an injustice (Wufei snorted) and how she was going to sue them all and have their jobs too!

"By the time I'm through with you, you won't even be able to hold a janitorial position!" Petunia's face, by this point, matched her husbands during one of his screaming fits.

Harry was keeping his head down and his mouth shut. Aunt Petunia was a force to be reckoned with when she got like this. She didn't like to get violent like Uncle Vernon, though she could – Harry distinctly remembered the frying pan she had aimed at his head in second year for frightening 'her Diddydums'. Oh no, if you made Aunt Petunia pissed, your chore list _tripled_; which in turn lead to it not getting finished 'in a timely fashion' and therefore Uncle Vernon getting mad, so you got hit anyway.

Harry plopped down on the chair in the waiting room they had arrived in. _I'm just glad Uncle's not here; otherwise I'd get another whooping for causing her day to be wasted yet again._ He rested his head in his hands as Agent Pride spoke quietly to a secretary and was ushered through the doors. Aunt Petunia began pacing the room. _I can't win! All I want is to be normal!_

Aunt Petunia was fuming by the time the door opened again – 15 minutes later. "The Director is ready to see you now." Agent Pride's voice carried, even though he was speaking very softly.

Harry followed the Agent and his aunt into the room, finally beginning to wonder what this was all about. Surely a problem with his guardianship paperwork could not warrant the attention of the Director of the Preventers.

Une watched as they entered. The boy was trying to make himself appear as inconspicuous and as small as possible while simultaneously trying to appear like he actually wasn't. Une smirked. _They're definitely related._ "Please, both of you, have a seat."

Petunia took offense. "I will not! As I told you earlier, you have made a mistake and I will not have you harassing my family anymore! We will be leaving!" She turned to leave, but Agent Pride was blocking her way.

Harry blinked. _This is unusual_. Normally his aunt and uncle played kiss-ass with all the important people they met, trying to appear more 'noble' than they really were. This type of reaction was usually reserved for witches and wizards. Harry jerked his eyes back to the Director and scrutinized her, but she seemed like a normal muggle.

"Mrs. Dursley, I will not tell you again. Sit. Down." Une's voice was like steel. Harry was glad her ire wasn't directed at him – she gave McGonagall a run for her money.

"I'm assuming, Mr. Potter, that you don't know why you and your Aunt were brought here today." Une studied the boy in front of her. He was scrawny and holding himself gingerly, like his chest or upper body was injured. She narrowed her eyes at the large bruise on his face and the fact that his glasses were being held together by mounds of scotch tape.

Harry shook his head slowly, but realized that she must have been the one to ring the house earlier – his aunt had been in an even fouler mood after that call.

"Well, as I explained to your aunt, the blood tests you came in for earlier this summer turned up a match."

Harry looked confused.

"You have a brother, Mr. Potter. One of my Agents, in fact."

Harry was speechless. For all of two seconds. "I'm afraid that must be a mistake, Ma'am – my parents have been dead for 14 years now."

"There! You see! Now, I will have no more of this non-sense! Even _if_ it were true, there's no way I'm taking in another freak! And I know that's what you're trying to do! Well, I wont have another foisted off on me and my hardworking family! GOOD DAY!" Petunia spun on her heel and stormed from the room.

Wufei moved to stop her, but at the signal from Une, let her go. He turned to look at the boy – who seemed taken aback at the vehemence of the reaction, but not at being left behind. _Interesting._

"Mr. Potter?" Une shouldn't have been surprised that the woman had left her nephew there, but the audacity of some people still astounded her.

Harry tuned back to look at the Director before facing Agent Pride. "I know you know who I am. You should know this is impossible." Wufei just shrugged.

"I, too, know who you are, Mr. Potter." Une's eyes flicked to Harry's scar as he turned back around.

Harry sighed and flopped back in his chair, wincing at the pain in his ribs. "Then you should know too, that _this is impossible_."

"Considering the Agent in question is a good three years older than you, I can assure you it is not." Une thought that might shock him into believing.

Harry sat dumbstruck. "Wha…Really? But that would mean…Wow." He looked at Une. "You said full-blood sibling, right?"

Une wasn't surprised by the intelligent question. "I didn't say, actually, but yes – you are full blooded siblings."

Wufei sat down next to Harry. "Since your aunt seems to know nothing of this, do you know of any of your parents friends who might have been their confidants?"

"I've never met any of my mother's friends. I have met a couple of my dad's friends, though…" by this point, Harry ceased talking to Une and Wufei and was more just speaking to himself out loud. "Remus – maybe? But, nah – from what he's told me they weren't very close at that age. Oh! Sirius would kn -"

"WHAT?!" Harry cut himself off as his head shot up at Une's outburst.

"Oops." He said very quietly.

"OOPS?! Are you telling me you've been in contact with Sirius Black?!" Une couldn't decide if she was furious for the boy or at him – why would his guardians allow him to be in contact with a mass murderer?! And one that worked for the person who had killed his parents and attempted to kill him??

Harry thought fast. "Uh – I plead the Fifth?" (1)

Wufei let his head fall back and prayed at the ceiling. _Dear GOD, not another one._

Une glared. "That does not apply to English citizens, Mr. Potter! Now answer the question!"

Harry gave her a frightened look, but stood his ground. "I'd rather not, Ma'am."

Une's glare intensified. _Cheeky brat._

"Look, he's innocent, ok? No – really!" Harry had to talk fast if the darkening look in the Director's face was anything to go by. He quickly explained the whole situation with Pettigrew and what happened the night he escaped. "I've seen the traitor myself – twice, the night he confessed to myself, Professor Lupin and Sirius and then the night he helped bring Voldemort back at the end of last school year!" Here, Harry cringed, remembering the circumstances and Cedric.

He looked to the other people in the room and continued. "Ok look - how about this. I'll contact him and ask him about this sibling and I'll try to convince him to come here to talk – you can even question him with Veritaserum, I know he'll agree! Just promise me that you'll not shoot or arrest him without hearing him out first, okay?"

The kid looked frantic - on the verge of an anxiety attack and ready to bolt, so Une agreed – with a look to Wufei that meant for him to be on his guard.

"Alright, Mr. Potter. I will have Agent Chang Wufei take you home." Harry looked confused for a moment before his brain had a chance to put two and two together – he looked over at Agent Pride, who nodded.

"Please contact your godfather and see when it will be most convenient for him to come in."

Harry nodded. "I cant make any promises, time-wise, because I don't honestly know where he is, but I can try. I'll let you know?"

Une nodded back and watched as they both walked out, then sat down at her computer. She knew Agents Reason and Sky were still in the field until tomorrow morning, so she sent off a quick email to all of the G-Boys to meet in her office tomorrow – Thursday – at 1800 for an 'urgent matter', though she was quick to note it was not life threatening.

* * *

Une watched as her five favorite Agents entered her office. Their personalities were so different she had given up trying to figure out how they meshed. Agents Reason and Pride walked sedately in, Pride more stiffly, but still relaxed for him. Agents Mask and Sky were wary and watching everything. While Agent Chaos – true to his name – bounded into the room.

"Welcome, gentlemen. As you know, this is an urgent matter, but not exactly time sensitive. Agent Pride has already been debriefed – but more out of necessity than any reason to leave the rest of you out of the loop." Une's matter-of-fact tone did nothing to calm the agents. Four sets of eyes immediately fell on Wufei, who sat straighter, but only shrugged in response to their unvoiced question. They weren't available to help and he hadn't had a chance to talk to them before the meeting. They conceded.

Une just rolled her eyes at all the silent communication. This was a common occurrence, but just because she was used to it, didn't mean she liked it – she hated being out of the loop.

"You remember, gentlemen, when you joined Preventers that your DNA was entered into the Family Reconstruction Act (FRA) database system, as is S.O.P" (2) Une was watching them for their reactions.

Duo grinned. "So obviously there's more happy news!" he turned to Heero and held out his hand. "Congrats!"

The others just rolled their eyes. Une raised an eyebrow.

"What?! I'm just happy that you've finally proven my theory!" Groans echoed around the group. Quatre was giggling behind his hand, while Heero just glared.

Une sighed. "Maxwell, _for the last time!_ Yuy is NOT related to Evel Knievel."

Duo just shook his head, still grinning. "I don't believe you."

Wufei threw up his hands. "You're incorrigible! We cant test for that, as that lunatic has been dead for CENTURIES! Will you just give it up already!!"

Une looked pointedly at Wufei who just huffed and sat down.

Duo, still grinning bounced up to Une's desk. "Ok, so Heero's out – does that mean you've found my long-lost sperm donor?"

Une's serious face stunned him enough to get him to shut up. "Please sit down, Agent Maxwell."

For once, Duo was speechless – but the other pilots were too stunned to call him on it.

"What – Really?" Duo had sunk down into one of the chairs in front of Une's desk. The others follow suit, with Heero sitting next to Duo and slinging an arm across the back of Duo's chair.

"There are still many things we don't know yet – but here's what we do. Your parents were 16 when you were born – April 1, AC180."

They knew Duo was paying attention, because here he snorted. "I was born on April Fools Day?" he snickered.

Une just grinned wryly and shook her head before continuing. "We assume you were given up for adoption - "

"What do you mean assume? You did find my family, right?" Duo's eyes were guarded.

Une's expression was sympathetic. "Your parents passed away 14years ago this coming Halloween."

Duo looked crestfallen. "So who did you find? An Uncle? Cousins?"

Une weighed her words. "You have a maternal Aunt, Uncle and Cousin." Here she paused and looked particularly serious. "You also have a younger brother – three years younger, to be exact."

Duo's face went blank as he leaned back into his chair. Heero's arm subtly went up and rested on his shoulder, giving him a supportive squeeze.

Une took this as her cue to continue. "We assume you were given up for adoption because your aunt seems to have no knowledge of your existence – and is completely denying the DNA results." Surveying their faces, Une thought the boys were all taking the news very well. Duo's face was hard to read, but he didn't seem to be upset. "Your brother, though he was unaware of your existence, has seen reason and believes the DNA results. He apparently knows some of your father's friends and has said he will contact them and get back to me – hopefully this week – with any news he can acquire."

Duo caught the omission. "And my Aunt and her family?"

Wufei cursed under his breath in Mandarin, causing the others to look at him with raised eyebrows. At a significant look from Une, he quieted.

"I will need to speak to your Aunt again. When she was here, I believe she was under the impression that she would be receiving another ward – as she is your brother's legal guardian. She was… most _displeased_ at this idea, but before I could clarify your emancipation, she stormed out."

Duo snorted as he read between the lines. "In other words, she wants nothing to do with me."

Une opened her mouth to reply, but Wufei could no longer hold his tongue. "That _onna_ is insufferable! Mahatma Gandhi would have smacked her!" He went back to muttering under his breath in Mandarin.

The rest of the group stared at Wufei's outburst in shock, before Duo began snickering. Quatre soon joined him and even Trowa was smiling – Heero was just shaking his head.

When they had finally calmed down, Une spoke again. "Why don't you all head home for the night and unless you have pressing paperwork, take tomorrow as a vacation day. I'll contact you as soon as I hear anything."

As the boys got up to go, Duo turned around. "Lady – um, that is, my brother - "

Une smiled fondly at him. "His name is Harry James Potter. He will be 15 tomorrow."

* * *

The boys arrived at WinterHaven, the Winner mansion that had become their unofficial permanent home. It was rare for all of them to be there at once, usually they had to plan months in advance for that to happen. Due to their schedules, it only happened on certain days – birthdays, anniversaries and of course the 'Peace Days' that signaled the end of the Wars and Mariemaia's Coup.

Quatre grabbed Wufei and dragged him in to the kitchen, presumably to make tea, coffee and a snack, leaving Heero and Trowa to deal with a still stunned Duo.

Quatre walked over to the pantry, grabbing the coffee grounds, filters and tea bags, leaving Wufei to grab the mugs, spoons and snacks. Turning back, he noticed that 'Fei had only taken down two mugs and was leaning with his hands on the edge of the counter, head hung.

Quatre sighed. Even though the news wasn't bad it was still a lot to take in. they had all given up hope years ago. On top of that, Wufei had seemed to be strung tighter than normal all day. Placing his armload onto the island, he was about to turn around when instinct told him to duck and cover. He twisted around and threw himself into a crouch below the counter and windows as there was a resounding crash.

Realizing the projectile had come nowhere near him; Quatre straightened up and glanced from the shattered mug to Wufei, who was no longer leaning on the counter.

"I apologize; I did not mean to startle you." Wufei's stilted speech was proof of how stressed he was.

Quarter waved Trowa away when he popped a concerned head into the kitchen at the noise. He motioned for Wufei to join him at the island.

Wufei sank onto a stool. "Again, I'm sorry. Its just – Maxwell should not be fretting about that _onna_! She isn't fit to take care of snails let alone children!" At this, he shoved away from the table to grab the broom and dust pan to clean up. Following his lead, Quatre got up and began preparing the refreshments.

Trowa, Heero and Duo followed their noses into the kitchen a short time later as they smelled the coffee brewing.

It wasn't a solemn gathering, but the boys weren't exactly bouncing for joy either. Their lives were hard to explain – and harder to accept.

Children. Terrorists. Gundam Pilots. It was not something you just told people. Folks who hadn't had a direct involvement in the wars (because, lets face it – no one was totally untouched by the wars) found it hard to understand the reasoning and drive behind their need, their calling to fight. How it wasn't really a choice, but a must – a matter of preventing others from having to suffer that fate, for their own sanity and peace of mind.

Catherine Bloom already had time to adjust to her 'brother' being a gundam pilot – a fighter – by the time she discovered Trowa truly was her lost little brother, Triton. Talking and assuring her he was fine and done with all that horror at the end of the Eve Wars had secured him in her life.

Quatre's family had known pretty much from the time of his father's death – they weren't happy, but were glad he was alive. His choice to join Preventers part-time was still looked on with disdain, by some of the sisters, but for the most part they just left him to his own devices.

Wufei was not close with the members of his clan who had opted to stay on earth when the main branches moved to L5. He stayed in contact via email on certain dates with some second and third cousins, but nothing overt.

Heero did not know his family and given the experiments done on him to alter him into the Perfect Soldier, it was highly unlikely that anything would come of it. Sally still had him coming to her on a yearly basis, as no one knew the extent of the experimentation and what the long term effects would be.

Duo sat at the table spinning his mug around and around. The others, unsure where to start, sat in companionable, though slightly awkward, silence waiting for him to make the first move.

When the kettle began whistling, Wufei disposed of the mug fragments and began preparing his and Quatre's tea. He sighed – he really couldn't take the silence much longer. When they all got together, it was never this quiet, someone was always doing something. "I know this is not consoling, but your _Aunt_ is not someone to miss or be upset about – she seems to have the same disdain for your brother as she showed for you, even though she continued to deny you could exist." He sighed again.

"Your brother - " He paused, trying to find the words – as he was really the only one that could right now. "He's nice. He seemed shy and reluctant to believe the Lady, but I suppose that was only a knee-jerk reaction. His is 15 years old and has been told his entire life that his parents died when he was 15 months old and that he was an only child." Wufei knew without turning around that he had all of their attentions. "At the very least, he is willing to meet you and go from there. Once Une explained the DNA match, he really didn't argue – unlike his oaf of a guardian. And as Une told you, he has tried to get in contact with some of his – your – parents' friends to see if any of them know anything. I think he specifically mentioned a Godfather – so it appears that you have been in the correct religion after all." Wufei smirked as he said this, setting the tea set on the island and passing Quatre his mug, though he completely missed Q's shocked expression at the mention of Harry's Godfather.

Sitting down once again, Wufei began fiddling with his own cup. "Your – _Aunt_ – seems to know nothing of your existence. Now, seeing as your parents attended boarding school and she did not and also given your birthday, his is understandable. Your grandparents on both sides have been dead for some time, so it appears as though we must rely on your parents' friends."

Duo didn't even look up "So there's a 50/50 chance we may never know what happened." He heaved a sigh. Hero placed a reassuring hand on his, stilling the coffee mug.

"Well, we may never know the exact circumstances, but we have a small amount of information." Quatre spoke up as he settled back into his seat and placed a manila envelope on the table. No one had noticed him leave. The others eyed the envelope as he opened it. "James Potter, born March 27th. AC163, died October 31st, AC184. Lily Potter (ne Evans) born January 30th, AC163, died October 31st, AC184…Harry Potter, born July 31st, AC183…" he frowned, there was no cause of death listed, nor death certificates – just basic stats: eye colour, height, weight and list of last residence. There were, however, two photos – one of James and one of Lily, so he passed to envelope to Duo. Duo snickered at reading it and leaned over to show Heero that his father and one "S. Black" had been arrested and fined in AC 179 for graffiti and disrupting the peace.

Both Wufei and Quatre were watching their comrades for signs of recognition of the names – there were none. And neither noticed the other looking, either.

Duo finally voiced the question Wufei had been trying to avoid. "And my Aunt and her family?"

Wufei had to strongly resist the urge to throw yet another mug. "Are not worth mentioning." He bit out, causing the others to stare at him. Calming himself, albeit only slightly, he attempted to continue. "The – _family_ – lives in Surrey, specifically Little Whinging. They seem to have a decent home and income via the husband. I will reiterate, that _onna_ is not fit to raise snails, let alone children. I would not recommend trying to pursue any type of relationship with her."

Duo just gaped at Wufei. Well. That was concise, but – "What's your reasoning for that assumption? And what does it have to do with me?" He trusted his friends' instincts implicitly, but that didn't mean he wouldn't want an explanation for them.

"I realize that young boys will get into fights, as your brother – Harry – claimed. But that does not excuse his guardian from procuring treatment for him!" Wufei slammed his fist on the table, upsetting the now empty mug. The boys were flabbergasted. "He answered the door with broken glasses, a large bruise on one side of his face and limping – a sprained ankle, I would assume. As I had the chance to observe him further, it came to my attention that he carried himself as if his torso were in pain – if I had to guess, I'd say two-three broken or seriously bruised ribs. Now, I could understand forcing the child to deal with the pain from the facial bruise as punishment for getting into the fight in the first place, but she paid him no regard at all! He obviously needed medical attention, and she just ignored it and had him gardening, of all things! On top of that, the only clothing he owns seems to be cast-off rags that homeless shelters would have scrapped long ago!"

Wufei did not seem to notice that he was still speaking to the other four, it was more that he was just reliving the events out loud. "I followed Harry up to his room, as he seemed to be taking his time." He gave the others a significant look. "There were no less than four dead-bolts on the outside of his bedroom door."

The Gundam Boys had seen a lot in their short life spans, but even they were shocked following Wufei's rant. "Well, we need to meet him first, I think, before we can decide what can and should be done. He is old enough to have input, at least." Quatre was normally the voice of reason, so hearing this sentiment from Heero was odd, but not wholly unexpected – they were discussing his future brother-in-law.

"I agree." Trowa was always the contemplative one. "Why don't we head to bed - " He gave a long look at the clock, which read 12:30am, "And think on this with fresh minds in the morning."

Agreeing, they cleaned up and disappeared to their respective bedrooms. The day had finally caught up with them.

* * *

**Chapter End: TBC**

AN:

1 - The 5th amendment to the American constitution states a person shall not be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself (meaning if you're being questioned by authorities, you don't have to say anything or answer any questions if it will incriminate yourself)

2 - S.O.P. stands for Standard Operating Procedure.


	4. Chapter 4

**Family Means Nobody Gets Left Behind**

By: ForeversNobody

**Rating/Warning:** uuuuummmm, imma have to go with M, just cuz I like to swear and also, I plan on making this a slash fic and therefore give as many lemons (and limes) as I want and/or as my readers request… I will warn you at the beginning of chapters which ones will contain lemons/limes

_Blah_ = thinking

(***blushes*** sry this wasn't in other chapters! But I'm sure you're all smart enough to have figured that out ***winks***)

**Authors Ramblings:** I wish I could offer you guys guaranteed updates weekly instead of as random as they've been, unfortunately my muse doesn't work like that. She likes to randomly take scenes I've 'written' and go "no, no – that doesn't sound right to me, forget it!" and I can literally not remember what I had decided to happen, other than a general outline, and have to re-write it ***sweat drops*** she's confusing, so please bear with me!

Now, I really don't like doing this because if I do it once, I'll prolly end up doing it again soooo – if you leave a review PLEASE SIGN IN TO DO SO!! Instead of doing it anonymously or as least include an email address I can respond to… I don't like taking up space in the authors notes for answers to questions that are left in reviews… so, like I said I'M ONLY DOING THIS ONCE!!

Betty_Boop: she hailed a cab; she didn't want to wait and 'waste her day' any longer

Kat1132: seeing as the computer hates me (she managed to randomly delete the software for my CD drive) prolly not? If I can figure out how to do it, without messing up the story, then yea – but Lucy (my computer) is a bitch so… ***shrugs***

I am American who has never traveled out of my country (even to Canada – I know, sad), but I will try my hardest to stick to British slang and customs – feel free to correct me if I get it wrong!

You'll have to excuse any and all mistakes as my Beta has taken an indefinite hiatus cuz her computer has officially died! Lol so, if anyone is willing to beta, just PM me here and we'll go from there, k?

**Pairing(s):** yeeeeeeaaaaa – imma let you figure that out on your own for now ;)

**Summary**: He had given up on wishing for a new family years ago – long before he found out he was a wizard and the horrible truth about what had happened to his parents. But sometimes, Gods are just as good at procrastinating as humans – but they get to their duties, eventually.

* * *

_Chapter 4:_

His aunt had been none-too-pleased to see him return when he exited the preventer's issued car on Wednesday several hours after she had stormed out of the Headquarters. She immediately set him to cleaning the upstairs and doing the laundry, and made sure she had given him his chore list for the next day. She eyed him carefully as he climbed the stairs to start on his work before turning into the family room to watch her Soaps. (1)

By the time he finished his chores, he was exhausted and his ribs and ankle were throbbing in unison. He sat down at the desk by his bedroom window and just stared at the parchment in front of him. _How in the world do you word this type of question?_ Twenty minutes and 15 crumpled pages later, Harry decided on a short, blunt one sentence letter – he was honestly too exhausted to get his brain working to come up with anything longer or more detailed.

_ Snuffles,_

_ I know this sounds absurd, but is it possible that I have an older sibling?_

_ Love,_

_ Harry_

He strapped it to Hedwig, let her out the window, then crawled into bed without even bothering to change.

* * *

The next day was not much better. His uncle had heard an edited version of the previous day from his aunt and felt he needed to _remind_ Harry not to bother her again today. By the end of the 'lecture' his head and ribs were throbbing anew.

Harry stole into the bathroom and snuck some pain relievers while he was putting the laundry away. He prayed his aunt wouldn't notice they were missing or he'd really be in for it.

Hedwig had yet to return by dinnertime, but Harry thought nothing of it. He had no idea where Sirius was, so that meant it could take her anywhere from a day to two weeks before she even reached him, let alone come back with a response.

Harry honestly didn't think he could honestly wait that long. His dreams of having a family had faded long before he had even started primary school, but one small part of him was always going to hope. Even then, he didn't logically think this supposed brother would want him - the Dursley's certainly hadn't.

Now, He knew they were a poor excuse to base anything off of, but when it had been ingrained in your head for as long as you could remember that you were a useless, unwanted, stupid freak, you tended to believe it. And Even when those assumptions had been proven wrong time and again, there was still that little voice in the back of your head that just waited for the right moment to remind you that you were unlovable. That no one wanted to touch you because you were a dirty freak; that other people were worthy of love and you weren't.

So, as much as he wanted to meet this brother, he had his reservations. _I shouldn't have sent Sirius that letter, it was stupid – my maybe-brother would be safer if no one found out about him, anyways. He would just be one more person for Voldemort to take away from me in the end._

Sitting on the back deck, waiting for the Dursley's to finish their meal so he could eat and finish cleaning before heading to bed, Harry Potter dropped his head into his hands and fought the urge to cry.

* * *

Lying in bed, later that night, Harry was observing his yearly ritual – counting down the minutes to his birthday. He had fifteen minutes to go. His brain was running through a hundred different scenarios on how the meeting with his brother could go. He was so distracted, he didn't even notice when he began to doze off, when his fantasies turned into real dreams – and he finally fell asleep.

* * *

His eyes shot open – something had woken him, but he didn't know what. Realizing he could see, indicating he had dozed off with his glasses on, Harry turned to look at his clock. 1:27am. _Damn, missed it – that's a first, though._

He shifted around in his bed, trying to get comfortable when he realized there was something moving in the shadows near his door. Harry didn't even think as he grabbed his wand and tried to focus on the movement. He began to panic when he remembered that he daren't use magic for fear of expulsion. Squinting, he noticed that whatever it was, was swinging like the pendulum in a grandfather clock. Sitting up and leaning forward, he squinted harder, trying to make out the shape – by this point he had lowered his wand. He was so focused on the far object that he didn't notice what was right in his face until something long and pink darted out and slobbered all over the left side of his face. Strangling an undignified shriek, Harry threw himself so hard backwards so hard that he toppled off his twin bed. Untangling himself from the sheets, Harry straightened his glasses and looked up reprovingly at Padfoot, who now had his front paws on the bed – head cocked, tongue lolling and tail still wagging slowly back and forth. (2)

Harry sighed and shook his head before hauling himself back up onto the bed, and motioned for Sirius to fully join him. The massive animagus leaped onto the bed and curled up on top of Harry's feet – immensely enjoying the ear scratching Harry was bestowing upon him.

"Honestly, Sirius, you nearly gave me a heart attack!" His tone was only half stern.

Sirius morphed back into his human form, still wearing his doggy grin. "It was fun – and entertaining!" He looked completely unapologetic.

Harry just shook his head. "How did you get here so fast anyway? I figured you'd be in Fiji or something." Harry looked anxious "You did get my letter, right?"

Sirius' face suddenly hardened. "I did." He leaned over and placed his hands on Harry's shoulders. "Where did you hear that, Harry?" He didn't look upset, but he didn't look particularly happy either.

Harry winced at the pressure Sirius was unwittingly putting on his sore ribs – the tumble from the bed hadn't helped, either. Sirius' frown deepened and he released his godson, looking none-too-happy at the reaction. "What happened?" There was no emotion in his voice.

Harry looked away, but answered – he knew better than to try and lie to Sirius by now. "Dudley and his gang were bothering me while I was gardening on Wednesday." He spoke fast as his godfather looked like he was going to run into his cousin's bedroom and give him a 'talking to'. "No, really! I'm fine! Honest! Think they're just bruised and the pressure was only slightly irritating."

Sirius sighed and gave Harry a gentle hug – an unspoken apology for having to leave him here in this hell. "Can you answer my question, pup? Who told you that you had a brother?"

Wary, but excited that Sirius wasn't immediately denying it (_it was really true?!)_, Harry explained everything that had happened since he got back to Privet Drive for the holidays, down to the DNA evidence even though he knew Sirius only had a rudimentary knowledge of muggle life and would probably not understand much if any of it. He had honestly expected Sirius to adamantly deny all of it – and was completely floored when he didn't.

Sirius readjusted himself so that he and Harry were leaning against the headboard. "You did have an older brother. Your parents were too young and still in school, so they gave him to a family that James' parents knew who could take good care of him." Here, he paused and closed his eyes. "Callum – your brother – lived with the Merryfeathers for two years when there was a sudden fire in their complex. They were living in a muggle flat sector on one of the colonies…?" Sirius sounded confused and stumbled over the terms, which led Harry to believe that he was just repeating something he had been told – most likely by Lily, so Harry nodded to show he knew what Sirius was referring to. "Cameron, Sophia and Callum Merryfeather died along with over 500 other people." Sirius was choked up, but tried valiantly not to show it.

Harry leaned over into him and prepared himself to shatter his godfather's perceptions. "Callum survived, Siri."

Sirius was stunned. "He couldn't have – he was just a baby!"

Harry gave Sirius an incredulous look, as if to say _do you realize who you are talking to?!_ "I guess achieving the impossible is a family trait." Sirius looked sheepish. "The muggles found him, Siri. He'd been living on that colony, I guess – they said they'd tell me more after he got back from his latest mission." Harry grinned. "He's part of the Preventers – um, the muggle version of the Aurors crossed with the M.L.E."

Sirius was still sitting in shock, speechless – but was beginning to smile.

Harry resolved himself to broach the subject. "I spoke with their head, the Director of Preventers. She's willing to give you the benefit of doubt if you were to come in and speak with her about any information you might have on her agent's past." Harry looked nervously at Sirius for his reaction.

Sirius frowned. "I don't know, Hal (4), that could be dangerous. And anyway, I'd be spotted entering their offices for sure."

At this Harry grinned and shook his head. "No, you can go in as Padfoot. Don't ask me how, because I have no clue, but the Director and at least one of her Agents knows about our world – they recognized me."

Sirius was still wary, but smiled and shook his head – he really couldn't deny his godson anything. "Alright, kiddo, we'll go first thing in the morning, ok?" Harry nodded. "Now, Happy Birthday! And go to bed." Sirius grinned as he shifted out of Harry's way allowing him to lie down properly. Transforming, Padfoot curled up at Harry's feet and watched his godson drift off, before following him into dreamland.

* * *

Petunia Dursley scowled as she glanced at the clock once more. 8:05am. _That stupid brat __**still**__ isn't up?! Vernon needs to leave for work in just over an hour and Diddy will be up soon too! __**HMPH!**_ She finished getting dressed and stormed down the hall, intent on giving her freak of a nephew a piece of her mind.

Throwing open the door with a loud slam; she stifled a shriek as a monster perched on the end of the bed leapt to its four feet, snarling.

Harry shot up; looking around blearily for what had woken him this time. Registering that someone was standing in his doorway, he could tell by the size that it was his aunt. It took him a second longer to notice that the rumbling he heard wasn't the house shaking, but Padfoot's vicious snarling. His eyes widened. "Sirius! Stop it!" He shoved his glasses on his face and turned his horrified gaze onto his aunt. She looked torn between being terrified and ready to spit nails.

"YOU! You let that – that **mongrel** into my house?! How DARE you!" Petunia made to advance on Harry, but the dog moved in front of him and raised its hackles higher.

Harry panicked and latched on to Padfoots scruff, wrapping his arm around the dog's neck. "Sirius, please! Stop!"

Petunia finally seemed to register what her nephew was calling the dog. She paled. "That _thing_ is your godfather?!" she backed up again to lean against the door.

Sirius, recognizing that he could use this to his advantage, transformed and advanced on the woman. "What could _possibly_ be wrong enough to warrant you storming in here like there was a Cerberus on your tail at this time of the morning?!"

Petunia tired valiantly to regain her footing in the confrontation. "What are you doing here?! I should call the authorities right now and turn you in!" She shrank back even further at his maniacal laughter.

"Who in their right mind would believe you? You'd have no proof!" To prove his point, he changed into Padfoot and back within a span of seconds. Petunia now looked terrified. Sirius sneered. "Would you _kindly_ answer my question now?" He sounded anything but kind.

Petunia looked like that was the last thing she wanted to do, but complied – who knew what a full grown, psychotic wizard was capable of? "The boy is supposed to be downstairs by now making breakfast; Vernon and Dudley will be getting up soon." She kept it as concise as possible.

"**Harry** will not be making breakfast for you or those _pigs_," Sirius' tone was positively venomous – Petunia tried to make herself disappear into the door. "We shall be going out for the day and I don't know when we'll return. Don't expect him back before late this evening." He glanced over at Harry who looked torn between smiling in relief and gratitude and wanting to bolt downstairs to placate his aunt. Sirius continued. "Now, I suggest, _Petunia_, that you head downstairs, unless you want your lards of a husband and son to starve – apparently it takes over an hour to cook their breakfasts."

Petunia sneered and made as if to smack Harry on her way out, but Sirius' growling stopped her. Even as a human, he had a vicious sounding growl.

Sirius shut the door behind her and turned a critical eye on Harry. "What do you say we wrap your ribs and ankle, and then be on our way?" Harry looked startled that Sirius had noticed his discomfort, then sheepish. Sirius pulled his wand out of his robes and performed the spells, wrapping ace bandages around his torso and ankle before transforming into Padfoot and bounding over to lick Harry's face.

* * *

Seeing as it was still the middle of the morning, Harry and Padfoot had to hunt down an alley to summon the Knight Bus. Harry had some muggle money for the summer, but nowhere near enough to take a cab from Little Whinging to London and still have any left. He had been using the muggle money to buy food when the Dursleys took to starving him – the snacks and sweets from Hermione and Ron were just not enough to survive on.

The Knight Bus dropped them in an alley about a block down from the Preventers building. Stan and Ernie had seemed reluctant to let the massive dog on, but when Harry assured them Snuffles would be on his best behavior, they conceded. The fact that Padfoot had bounded up to one of the beds, jumped on it and promptly gone to sleep didn't hurt matters, either.

Walking to the Preventers HQ, Harry was getting some odd looks. It took him a while, but then he realized it was probably due to the fact that he was walking such a large dog without a collar or leash. He sunk his hand into Padfoots scruff for the second time that morning and most of the looks subsided.

When they reached the front of the building, Padfoot slowed to a stop. Harry, nervous and anxious to see what Sirius was planning, stopped with him. Sirius was eyeing the security checkpoint with a calculating look. Harry shrunk back; that was not a good look on his godfather.

Padfoot suddenly turned to Harry, a large doggy smile splitting his face. He knocked Harry's feet out from underneath him and promptly tossed Harry so that he landed on Padfoot's back. Harry's automatic reaction was to grab as much fur as possible and hold on for dear life – as Sirius had shot forward.

Padfoot shot forward, leapt over the security tables, bypassing the metal detectors and sending civilians and guards alike scattering. Realizing Sirius's intent, Harry began quickly whispering directions into the dog's ear on how to get to Une's office.

They quickly managed to lose their pursuers, but Harry knew they would be found eventually. He was _so_ not looking forward to that.

They finally arrived in the waiting room outside of Une's office, startling the hell out of the secretary. Harry jumped off Padfoots back and approach the secretary to try and explain that they were here to see Director Une.

Padfoot calmly walked over to the large double doors, reared onto his back legs and promptly began scratching incessantly at them.

The secretary was now completely ignoring Harry and staring in horror at the dog destroying her boss's doors. The Director was not going to be happy about this. Marisol just prayed the woman didn't come out shooting.

Suddenly, there was a loud commotion from the hallway. Harry froze. Their pursuers had caught up with them. Then Padfoot yelped loudly, causing all eyes to turn to him. Harry swung around to see the doors Sirius had been scratching on had been opened and the dog was now leaning with his front paws on the chest of Director Une. Harry groaned and wondered if it was possible to sink into the floor.

Une just stared at the scene before her. There had to be 15 M.P.s (3) crowding into her waiting area. Marisol looked beside herself, not knowing how to deal with the situation. Harry Potter was standing in front of the secretary's desk wringing his hands and looking mortified. She then looked down at the animal using her as a footstool. It grinned and cocked its head at her before lunging forward and giving her a slobbery kiss. She glared at the mutt. "_**Down.**__"_

She was scarier than McGonagall when she was mad. Sirius obeyed and for good measure sat too, still wagging his tail.

Une looked at the M.P.s for an explanation. The leader spoke up. "Ma'am. The boy and his dog completely by-passed security. We apologize that they managed to get this far – we'll take them into custody now – and call his parents."

Harry winced at the mention of his parents.

Une gave him a calculating look. "Actually, Mr. Potter has a standing appointment with me. If you would, though, Officer – Marikesh - search him as is protocol, then you can all be on your way." Une gestured for Harry to walk over to the M.P.s who patted him down and declared him 'clean'.

Une nodded as the M.P.s left she turned to Marisol. "Hold my calls and cancel all my morning appointments. And when you get a chance, put a call in to WinterHaven. Have them all report to my office at -" She looked at her watch, 10:00 "At 11:00 sharp – if they ask what it is concerning, just tell them I have News."

Marisol nodded and breathed a sigh of relief as the boy and his – _dog _– followed Une into her office. At least she could say her job was never dull.

* * *

Une led them into her office and motioned Harry to a chair. She did not expect the dog to jump up on the other one, she glared at it again. "Down." This time, however, it did not comply with her firm voice. She gave it a calculating look.

Harry thought he better intervene before the director decided shooting his godfather would be a good way to get him to listen. "I'm sorry, he's just showing off. I think he was really just playing the part for the officers back there, although with him its hard to tell most of the time." Harry gave his godfather an exasperated look.

"Oi! I resent that remark!" Instead of Padfoot, Sirius was now sitting comfortably in the second chair.

Experiencing magic was still fascinating to Une, even after watching Treize (and later, Mariemaia) achieve feats that completely defied logic and physics. Sometimes she wished she wasn't a muggle, just so she could experience the thrill first hand. But after learning what witches and wizards could do to each other in a battle, she decided she liked muggle wars better – they were more predictable and therefore you were more able to protect yourself.

So as much as she was used to magic, watching a dog turn into a man was still a shock. Then she realized what she had just witnessed. She narrowed her eyes. "So that's how you've been evading authorities. But can't the, uh – Aurors? – detect you?"

Sirius turned to examine the fierce looking woman. Harry said she knew about the magical world, so Sirius had just assumed she was a muggleborn. Apparently, she wasn't – she was just an ordinary muggle. "No, Ma'am. The only way to know if someone is an animagus is for them to register at the Ministry – and seeing as I became one illegally and while I was still in school, I never registered." He didn't not sound the least bit sorry. "Plus, I was an Auror and having the element of surprise would have been great in a tight spot."

Une had to agree with that, she knew all too well how a clever disguise could mean life or death to a soldier or officer. But that didn't change the fact that this man was a convicted mass murderer. "You do realize, Mr. Black, that until I can prove you innocent, I cannot let you leave here."

Sirius grinned and shook his head. "I will stay here and explain as much as I can – about my framing and Callum – but I'm afraid to say that the minute I feel my freedom is threatened, I will be forced to flee."

"Mr. Black, I cannot in good conscience let you go free without proof of your innocence. And you'll have to excuse me if I cant just accept the word of a child." Une nodded at Harry who looked indignant at being referred to as a child.

"Would Albus Dumbledore's word suffice?" Sirius' grin was back in full force.

Une looked skeptical, but if he could back it up she would have no argument. She didn't personally know Dumbledore, but she knew he was a very prominent figure in the wizarding world and a staunch supporter of the 'Light' fighting against Voldemort in their last war. If he could vouch for Sirius Black and provide her with proof of his innocence, she would not arrest him. "I will need your word, sir, that until I have spoken with Mr. Dumbledore that you will not leave England."

Sirius shook his head. "I'm afraid I cant do that, Ma'am. I am part of the resistance again and if I am called for a job, I cannot decline it. I can say that if I am asked to leave Britain, I shall have my godson contact you with a way to reach me and a promise to return any correspondences of yours."

Unes' eyebrows shot up. "The resistance?"

Sirius gave Harry's arm a reassuring squeeze. "Voldemort is back, alive and at full power, Director. He completed a Dark ritual during the Tri-Wizard Tournament which took place at Hogwarts this past school year. Dumbledore has recalled all the former members of the Order of the Phoenix to help."

Une sank into her chair. "Dear Lord." She was so sick and tired of wars and fighting. That was why she had created the Preventers – to put an end to all that insanity.

"My sentiments exactly." Harry had been quiet up to this point out of sheer force of habit; when adults spoke, freaks were not to be seen or especially heard – Dursley rule 2. "You're welcome to use my owl when she gets home tonight to send a message to Dumbledore. She should be delivering my friends' presents to me tonight around midnight – I could just send her to you after she rests a bit."

"Thank you, Mr. Potter, that would be most helpful. Now, gentlemen, why don't we get down to business. First and foremost – Mr. Black, please give me your version of events on Halloween, AC 184 and the circumstances that led to your arrest."

Sirius gave her a quick run-down of everything that happened that year – making sure to note his lack of a proper trial and therefore inability to defend himself – as well as everything that had happened since his escape. Harry also interjected at certain points – specifically his version of the events of his third year and how Dumbledore had told Harry and Hermione how to save both Sirius and Buckbeak in one go.

The tale was so elaborate, that Une was hard pressed not to believe them, but she forced herself to reserve judgment until she had spoken with Dumbledore.

"I have a question, Director," Sirius sounded calm, but his body language was tense. "Harry is convinced that you've found his older brother. He's told me you have proof, but I'm unsure how to feel about that. I was there when Lily and James got the news about Callum and the Merryfeathers. Over 500 people died in the fire that killed them and destroyed their flat block. There is no logical way Callum survived." Sirius wanted desperately to believe what she was claiming, but he knew it was a very remote chance.

Une sat back and stared at Sirius. "It's very hard to explain unless you know the basics of blood and DNA testing. Without those I'm not sure you'd really understand what I'm explaining." She suddenly sat forward. "You said you were an Auror?" Sirius nodded, unsure of where she was going with that. "So you know and understand the theories – basic and complex – surrounding magical signatures?"

Sirius also sat forward and nodded. "The ability of a person's magical core to register differently but inherently similar depending on the focus they use. Magical cores have an inherent signature, unique to each wizard, which becomes slightly distorted when focused through a medium such as a wand or crystal - which is why a wizards chosen wand will work better for its intended user than anyone else. The distortion works naturally with the proper wielder's magic, enhancing it rather than countering or misdirecting it. It's also why wandless magic is so dangerous. The magic is focused directly from the core and is many times more powerful without the distortion. Aurors have recently been able to use that distortion to identify not only who cast a spell, but also if they used their own wand or someone else's.""

Une agreed. "Correct. No matter what focus is used the base power remains the same - that even if you were to pick up Harry's wand and use it, it would be completely unique to you – no other wizard could produce the same magical signature."

Une paused and tried to word this in a way the wizard could comprehend. "Now, apply this theory to the genes that make up humans – our blood. DNA cannot be duplicated naturally – with the sole exemption of identical twins, but I wont get into that. All family members tied by blood will share certain commonalities. Siblings will all be various combinations of their parents; half siblings will only share the traits of the shared parent. etcetera. We can identify familial relationships with high reliability out to the level of cousins, and decent reliability out to second cousins or the generation twice removed in either direction. Siblings are so closely tied that the system is considered infallible. There is always a margin for human error, but I assure you that our lab is one of the most respected and we tested multiple times to eliminate the possibility of contamination. Suffice it to say that there is no doubt in my or my Chief Doctors' mind that my agent is Mr. Potter's brother."

Sirius sat back in his chair, an enormous grin on his face. He turned to Harry. "I guess you were right – achieving the impossible does run in the family."

The silence in the room was interrupted by Une's computer beeping three times in quick succession. Une frowned. That was Sally's 'Urgent Message' alert. "Please excuse me for a minute gentleman." She shifted her chair over and began reading the message.

Sirius looked over at Harry again and frowned – he looked like he was in pain again. "You alright, kiddo?"

Harry looked up from his hands and just smiled. "Yea, I'm ok."

The sound of the office doors opening caused Harry and Sirius to turn around and look to see who had come in. Five men casually strolled in. Une didn't seem to notice, but then –

"Heero Yuy, put the gun away. Mr. Black is here of his own volition and is not to be shot." She finally looked up from her computer at the assembled group. "Or arrested."

Sirius was shocked that someone had pulled a weapon on him without his knowledge, but then again, he couldn't really see three of the five men – they were standing in a sort of triangle formation, with two, two and then one.

Harry stood up and eyed the group that had paused just inside the doorway. He wanted to see if he could pick out his brother before Une said anything. He went to immediately dismiss the girl with the braid who was standing next to a blonde that could pass for a Malfoy cousin, but then stopped, realizing that it was actually a man. _A three foot braid? On a guy?_ Alarm bells were sounding in the back of his head, but he didn't know why. He spotted Agent Chang next to a man with hair to rival his own. The man at the very back with the unibang, however, sealed the deal. Harry could feel the blood draining from his face as he whipped around to face the director. "Gundam Pilots." He said, completely stunned. He was actually surprised he was still standing, he was so astonished. But then his legs gave out and he collapsed back into his chair. "You failed to tell me my brother was one of the Gundam Pilots." Harry dropped his head into his hands and therefore completely missed the collective flinch from the group of men.

Sirius was utterly confused, but knew from Harry's reaction that what he was talking about was both common knowledge and obvious and therefore he had to play along and pretend to know what was going on.

Before anyone could respond to his outburst, Harry suddenly sat up in his chair, grinning. He turned to Sirius. "Hermione can't yell at me anymore!" Everyone just looked confused at his apparent change of mood, so he pointed at the Gundam Pilots. "My 'saving-people thing'! It's obviously a family trait, so she can't yell at me – its not my fault!" Harry looked very pleased at his conclusion, practically bouncing in his seat.

Sirius was at a loss for how to respond to that.

A quiet snicker drew their attention back to the men standing in the doorway. "Gentlemen, please come in and have a seat."

Harry watched avidly at they came closer. He knew all of their names – no one in the muggle world _didn't_ know their names - but he had only seen their pictures once or twice, so he didn't know who was who.

Sirius watched them as they approached and looked right at the one with the braid. He grinned. "if you aren't the spitting image of your mother, then I'm a Slytherin."

Duo stopped and stared at the man. He sure didn't act like the cold-blooded murderer the news had made him out to be.

Une nodded. "Duo Maxwell, meet your brother, Harry Potter and his Godfather, Sirius Black."

Duo nodded at Sirius and turned to look at his brother. The kid was still standing in front of his chair, wringing his hands and fidgeting – like he was afraid to approach them. _Ok, what's with this kid? First he sounds like he's terrified to be related to a Gundam Pilot, then he's all excited about it and now he's back to terrified? What gives?!_ Remembering what Wufei had said, Duo made sure he was smiling as he walked over to Harry; he reached out to shake the kids hand and grasp his shoulder. He didn't miss the wince Harry tried, and failed, to conceal. Duo frowned, if the kids' ribs hurt because of the minute amount of pressure Duo was asserting on his shoulder, that meant they were broken.

Harry pasted on a smile and resisted the urge to sigh – or scream in frustration. His brother was already frowning at him when he had yet to say anything or really interact with Duo or the other guys. When Duo had finished scrutinizing him and turned back to face the other people in the room, Harry gave in and let his shoulders slump. _So much for that hope._

Everyone in the room was now facing her, so Une decided to get the official meeting under way so they could get to the unofficial part sooner. "Everyone, please have a seat. Agents -" she turned to face the former pilots. "You have perfect timing; Mr. Black was just about to disclose his knowledge of your unique circumstances, Agent Maxwell."

Sirius took his cue, resisting the urge to grin like a maniac – he didn't want to scare the boy off, afterall. "I think I'll start with the basics; the name on your birth certificate is Callum Rhys Potter. You were born on April 1st, AC 180 to James Potter and Lily Evans." He sat back in his chair to be more comfortable during the long story.

"James and Lily didn't really get along until the end of 5th year, beginning of 6th." Harry snorted at the understatement, Sirius just smiled at him. "Ok – Lily hated James's guts, that is, until she saw him being himself – without the rest of us Marauders around." Sirius looked over at Harry, "He was defending a Ravenclaw 2nd year from a group of Gryffindor 6th years." Harry grinned. "Anyway, they started dating and then soon after Lily's 16th birthday, she found out she was pregnant. I found out by accident – James had sequestered himself in our bathroom and was having a furious argument with himself, out loud. Though, I think Lily went directly to Remus – he was her main confidant, after all."

Harry perked up. "Remus knows too?"

Sirius shook his head. "He knew Callum, but I didn't tell him about this -" He gestured towards the G-Boys. "I wanted to be sure first, before I told him." Sirius then glanced over at Harry again. "You sure know how to pull someone off task, kid. How's about I finish the story then you can ask all the questions you want, ok?"

Harry ducked his head and nodded sheepishly, but internally he winced. _Stupid!!_ What did he think he was **doing** interrupting the adults?!

Sirius turned back around, serious again. "So Lily didn't want anyone to know, so they concealed the pregnancy. I know Mr. and Mrs. Evans and Mr. and Mrs. Potter knew – and maybe Madam Pomphrey, who was our schools Medi- Medical Worker." Sirius had to force himself to remember he was talking to muggles. "And then, like I said, myself and Remus Lupin. They weren't sure if they wanted to give the baby up, even though they were both still in school. James' parents helped solve the issue. They had some friends, an older couple whose kids were already full grown, but no grandkids yet. They agreed to take in Callum in an adjusted form of an Open Adoption, but rather than just giving Callum up, Lily wanted to be able to adopt him back at some point. James and Lily were in love, but they were also realistic – they knew they might not be together forever or even at the end of their educational careers – but they did agree to take care of Callum together."

Sirius paused momentarily to make sure they were all taking this in, and then kept on. "The Merryfeathers – Cameron and Sophia – took Callum in and kept Lily and James apprised of his life and accomplishments via photos and mail. Shortly after taking him in, they moved up to the L2 Colony to a new block of flats for a change of scenery and new experiences. By the time Lily and James graduated, they were engaged to be married and discussing bringing Callum home. They spoke extensively with the Merryfeathers and everyone agreed on checking in together at Christmas of that same year to talk about the situation. They eventually all agreed to meet and return Callum to his birth parents in July of AC 182 – but in May, Lily and James got some devastating news." Sirius stopped and had to compose himself. Even though it wasn't his son – and said substitute son was sitting right there – it was still hard to recall. "Lily and James got a message through Mr. and Mrs. Potter that there had been a fire on L2. Nearly all of the units making up the flats the Merryfeathers had been living in were gone. There had been a fire in the middle of the night – out of 700 people, families, 500 were gone – the buildings were nothing but ash and rubble. Apparently, even though the firemen had responded within a timely manner, there was a malfunction of the water system."

Duo snorted at this. When had anything on L2 ever worked when and how it was designed to? He had to shake his head at the tragedy of it, though – 500 people? That was a massive loss of life. _And yet, I can all but guarantee nothing was done to fix the problem, even if it was in a 'wealthy' neighborhood._

"It was a devastating blow, and I don't think they ever really got over it." Sirius didn't sound like he was really over it either.

Duo finally spoke up. "So, I must have gotten out somehow. Though, how did a 2 year old get outside without his parents knowing at – what, 3 am?" He paused and looked anxious but, determined. "And may I ask what happened to my birth parents? All I know is that they died when I was three."

Sirius looked to Une for permission. "We have at least one theory – but the answer to both of those questions is complicated without an explanation of who and what you are first."

Sirius and Une noticed that three of the gundam pilots looked curiously confused, but Quatre and Wufei had perked up and were looking eager. Harry was too busy wringing his hands and alternating between looking fretfully at Duo, then back at his own shoes to really notice the change in atmosphere.

**Chapter End: TBC**

**

* * *

  
**

A/N:

**HMPH!** Did I say chapter 3 had a mind of its own? Yea – that's NOTHING compared to this one! Omg, this thing is 11 pages long (6,772 words, yikes!) and it was going to be like 20! It was all spos to take place in Une's office, but it would have been waaaaaaay too long, so I cut it in half… on the upside, this means that chapter 5 is well under way! And should be out in a week or two! :3

1 - A Soap Opera, sometimes called "Soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic romantic fiction presented in serial format on television; The name "soap opera" stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers such as Procter & Gamble, Colgate-Palmolive, and Lever Brothers as sponsors and producers. These early radio serials were broadcast in weekday daytime slots when mostly housewives would be available to listen; thus the shows were aimed at and consumed by a predominantly female audience.

2 – This actually happened to me before! Lol – its funny now, but scared the hell outta me at the time! My dog, Maggie (RIP) was an all-black border-collie mix and loved jumping on beds… One day when I had a ton of stuff in my arms and couldn't pull the cord for the light in my bedroom I noticed in the blackness (it was night time and only the hall light was on and didn't really spill into my room) that something was moving over my bed, so standing at the edge of the bed, I leaned in squinting to see what it was and didn't notice that her head was right next to mine until she licked my face… I near jumped out of my skin!

3 – M.P. stands for Military Police within the US armed forces; preventers is technically a military, but operates more like a police force. But they still need police to keep them in order.

4 – I don't like the nickname Har for Harry, I can't honestly see anyone _actually_ using it in real life or accepting it being used towards them… Hal is the official nickname for Harold and Henry, so I figure it applies to Harry too :3


	5. Chapter 5

14

**Family Means Nobody Gets Left Behind**

By: ForeversNobody

**Rating/Warning:** uuuuummmm, imma have to go with M, just cuz I like to swear and also, I plan on making this a slash fic and therefore give as many lemons (and limes) as I want and/or as my readers request… I will warn you at the beginning of chapters which ones will contain lemons/limes

_Blah_ = thinking

(***blushes*** sry this wasn't in other chapters! But I'm sure you're all smart enough to have figured that out ***winks***)

**Authors Ramblings:** I am SOOOOO SOOOOOO SOOOOOOO sry for the long wait guys! Life was going fine, but then I got a new job and had a mini vacation and the everything went to hell in a hand basket… and since this is my first real job after college, its taken some getting used to my new 9-5 schedule (and having to get up at 6am every day – blegh! I am in no way, shape or form a morning person)… I will do my best to not keep you guys waiting so long in the future! :3

I have a beta! Yay! Many thanks to Masked Fool for taking up the position! Especially since Lightening_Skies (my previous beta) has had her computer commit suicide [she then proceeded to borrow a friend's laptop and managed to break that too – it was a Mac Book -_-' ]

I just wanted to thank all my readers and reviewers – I really appreciate you guys! *hands out cookies*

http: //forum. /topic/2592 /22417783 /1/

please, if you can, help me with this forum? I really want to keep reading this story, but I can't find it

**Pairing(s):** yeeeeeeaaaaa – imma let you figure that out on your own for now ;)

**Summary**: He had given up on wishing for a new family years ago – long before he found out he was a wizard and the horrible truth about what had happened to his parents. But sometimes, Gods are just as good at procrastinating as humans – but they get to their duties, eventually.

_Chapter 5:_

_Duo finally spoke up. "So, I must have gotten out somehow. Though, how did a 2 year old get outside without his parents knowing at – what, 3 am?" He paused and looked anxious but, determined. "And may I ask what happened to my birth parents? All I know is that they died when I was three."_

_Sirius looked to Une for permission. "We have at least one theory – but the answer to both of those questions is complicated without an explanation of who and what you are first."_

_Sirius and Une noticed that Heero, Duo and Trowa looked confused, but Quatre and Wufei had perked up and were looking eager. Harry was too busy wringing his hands and alternating between looking fretfully at Duo, then back at his own shoes to really notice the change in atmosphere._

Duo immediately tensed and sat straighter. He had a guess as to what this guy was talking about and it didn't sound like anything good. A lot of people still had bones to pick with them. "Look, if you've got a problem with me – _us_ – being the Gundam Pilots, we're going to have to part ways here, as much as I would regret that. I would love to know where I came from and all, but if you're going to be prejudiced…" he let his sentence trail off.

Sirius was thoroughly confused, but before he could form a response, Harry snorted. "Trust me, no one in our messed up little family is going to have an issue with you playing martyr and fighting for your cause."

Harry's comment had Sirius spinning around and glaring at his godson. "Ok, so they might have issues with the martyr part – but not the fighting for what you believe in part." Harry conceded.

"I'm going to second what Harry said, but if you've got even an ounce of his luck -"

"Hey!" Harry jumped in, cutting Sirius off. "Its not like I go looking for trouble! It just finds me!"

Trowa snorted. "Oh no, they're not related at all."

"That would be plausible, if it wasn't trouble every year." Sirius cut back in, apparently not hearing Trowa's quiet comment.

"_**OI**_! Like I can control when that – that _lunatic_ is going to come after me!" Harry was furious, despite Sirius' own lack of seriousness.

"Lunatic?" Heero enquired ending the argument.

"Voldemort." Harry spat, without thinking.

"What?" The quiet statement silenced the room immediately.

Harry turned and looked at Wufei, who repeated himself. "What did you just say?"

Harry's response was not something anyone in the room had expected. He exploded. "YES! Voldemort is back! No, I'm not lying and I'm _not crazy_! Cornelius Fudge is not fit to Minister if all he's going to do is keep people in the dark, compromising their safety!"

The room just sat in stunned silence, staring.

Harry froze, realizing what he had just done. _Yelling at adults? What the HELL came over you, moron!_ He sighed. "Look – I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell like that, and I know you all probably think I am crazy now. I'm just really frustrated."

Quatre, ever the peacemaker, decided to step in. "Okay, how about we start from the beginning, especially for those of us not in the loop." He looked over at Une, who seemed not to be surprised at the boy's outburst. "Who is Voldemort?"

Harry took a deep breath to calm himself and turned to face the Winner Heir. "Voldemort is the insane lunatic who killed my – our – parents." He nodded in Duo's direction. "He also tried and failed to kill me." Harry was still visibly agitated

Trowa spoke up at this, after all, he had worked and lived with people who were considered monsters, but had their own code to live by. "Tried? As in he couldn't bring himself to do it? That's not very surprising, event the most hardened soldiers sometimes don't have the resolve or stomach to kill children."

Harry shook his head as he turned to face Trowa. "No, tried as in tried and failed – I was the one he was after in the first place. My parents were just casualties." Harry reluctantly pulled up his bangs to reveal his scar. "This is the result of his attempt."

Duo walked over to inspect the scar. It was very oddly shaped and in an even stranger place, considering that the center of one's forehead was not generally a place one survived being wounded. "What kind of weapon makes that kind of mark? And how did you survive a serious head wound of that caliber at 15 months old?"

Harry just shrugged. "No one knows how I survived - the same way no one knows why he wanted to kill me in the first place."

Sirius averted his eyes, but Une noticed. "Is there something you're not sharing, Mr. Black?"

Sirius gave Une a stern glare. "Its not something children should have to deal with."

Une rolled her eyes heavenward and sent a silent prayer to whoever was listening to prevent her agents from committing homicide.

All of the pilots bristled at Sirius' remark; however Duo was the quickest to react. "OI! Who do you think you are, deciding what he is and isn't capable of? Just because he's young doesn't mean he can't handle it!"

Sirius snarled and whirled on Duo. "Right, because his track record of making outstanding decisions is exemplary so far."

Both were so focused on each other that they missed Harry's flinch – but the rest of the room didn't. He hunched his shoulders and ducked he head. The little voice chose that moment to pipe up. _See? Even your own 'loving' godfather thinks its your own fault! Why would your __brother__ think any different? He doesn't even know you._

Sirius and Duo were facing off, looking like they were ready to come to blows, but Sirius backed off first, his own shoulders slumping. He turned to face his godson and immediately cursed his stupid mouth. He strode over and gripped Harry's chin, forcing the boy to look his godfather in the face. "I'm sorry – that's not true, ok? Nothing, none of the things that happened are in any way shape or form your fault, ok? I know you tried to get help each and every time and were shot down – _its not your fault._ Do you understand?"

Harry just shrugged in response, refusing to meet his godfather's gaze.

Sirius just sighed again and pulled his godson into a hug. "_None of it_ was your fault, kiddo." He whispered.

"We are getting off topic again." Heero was getting frustrated – and by the look of his boyfriend's body language, he could tell Duo was as well.

Sirius pulled away from the hug, but kept an arm around his godson. He focused his gaze on Callum – Duo – and figured there was really no easy way to explain, so he just went with being blunt. "You are a wizard. As am I and Harry too."

Duo just stared at the man. _Ho-kay – prison made him crazy._

"He's not delusional, Duo. Nor is he lying." Wufei correctly read his friend's face and decided to intervene before things got out of hand. "I am also a wizard." He drew himself up and kept speaking, even through the skeptical looks his fellow pilots were giving him. "May I borrow your wand, Mr. Black?" At the confused look Sirius shot him, Wufei frowned and narrowed his eyes. "I know you would have procured a replacement since your original one was most likely snapped upon your incarceration, so please – do not attempt to play dumb with me."

Sirius flashed a devilish smirk. This guy was good. He reached into his robes and tossed his wand to the Chinese youth, who caught it smoothly.

Wufei turned towards Une's desk and muttered a quick string of ancient Chinese – an incantation – and Une's desk lifted four feet into the air to hover there until, he set it back down. Looking over at the group, he noticed that Duo, Heero and Trowa were staring open mouthed at the display – but Quatre was simply smiling. "Winner?" Wufei prompted.

Quatre stood up straighter. "I am not a wizard, but my mother's sister was a witch. I do believe there is some form of magical blood in my family, but because I do not know most of my sisters and they were conceived artificially, I'm not sure if I and my mother were the only ones with it. I do, however, have a periphery knowledge of a witch's or wizard's abilities – one of my caretakers knew my aunt and was very chatty."

Une raised her eyebrows at this, but then began giving Heero and Trowa calculating looks. _What are the odds…_ Shaking those thoughts off, she began her own explanation. "I feel I should also inform you all of my own knowledge - I am not a witch, however, I know of their world. Treize was a wizard and Mariemaia is a witch and as her legal guardian it is my responsibility to know so that I am able to give her as much guidance as she needs."

Duo looked like he was in a mild state of shock, but turned back to Harry and Sirius anyway. "Ok, so how about you finish telling Harry why he has a madman after his life so we can all -" he looked pointedly at Harry "figure out how to best coordinate his protection, hm?" It wasn't a suggestion.

Sirius nodded at Duo and steered his godson towards the chair he had vacated earlier. Sitting Harry down, Sirius knelt so he was eye level with his godson. "You remember the Fidelius Charm? How your parents decided to go under it? It was to protect you, not them. They had been moving for over a year and a half before initiating it, but the Death Eaters kept finding them so they agreed to the Fidelius. The year you were born, Dumbledore was interviewing a Seer for the position of Divination Professor." He smiled at Harry's eye roll. "Trelawny made a true prophesy that night during the course of her interview." He paused and looked uncomfortable. _He should __not__ have to deal with this, damnit!_ "One thing, ok? Before I tell you, I want your word that you understand that you are not doing this alone. You got that? I won't let you." Harry nodded, reluctantly, but Sirius was going to hold him to it, so he continued.

"_**The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches… Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies… And the Dark Lord will mark him as equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not…"**_ Sirius cut himself off here and seemed to be struggling with his words. He settled for gripping Harry's hands tightly before continuing. _**"And either must die at the hands of the other, for neither can live while the other survives… The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies…"**_ (1)

The room sat in stunned silence and Duo was beginning to rethink his demand of Sirius.

Wufei wasn't as accepting. "Divination is a weak branch of magic at best, it should not be relied upon -" He cut himself off as he saw Harry shaking his head.

"You'd get along great with my best friend Hermione – she felt the same way. But I personally witnessed this Professor deliver a True Prophesy in my 3rd year of schooling, so I can believe it." He looked numbly from Wufei to Sirius. "Though it all makes more sense now – why else kill a helpless baby?"

Sirius answered him with a grim smile. Wufei still looked skeptical, but refrained from commenting further.

Standing from his crouched position, Sirius turned around. "And it looks like we got as far off topic as possible – while still technically staying on topic, if that makes any sense." He grinned. "Back to where we started – my original theory on how you got out of the apartment fire. Young children experience bouts of accidental magic – bursts, when the child is happy, upset, afraid or really just about any extreme emotion. We assume that you woke up for some reason and were afraid and managed to apparate yourself outside somewhere, most likely somewhere you felt safe."

Duo scrutinized Sirius. "Solo – the leader of the gang that took me in – told me he found me in a park that's about a mile from the wealthier parts of the colony. Said I looked like I had been there for a couple days and he assumed someone had just dumped me there."

Sirius nodded. "Apparition is an advanced form of magic, its not an average manifestation of accidental magic, but it also has been known to happen. Bursts of that magnitude usually only happen in times of extreme duress – I think yours counts."

"I managed to apparate onto the top of my school once." Harry stated this so matter-of-factly that Sirius couldn't help but just shake his head. His godson was definitely a marauder – he caused trouble without even _trying_.

"Apparently the both of you enjoy shocking your family and friends by achieving the impossible and making it look as simple as breathing."

Harry ducked his head, blushing, but Duo just tossed his hands up and intertwined his fingers behind his head grinning like the Cheshire cat.

"As much as I would like to let you all continue this meeting here, I do have other things to attend to today." Une looked down at her watch, which now read 13:00. "I can arrange a private conference room, if you wish."

"Actually, we had been planning on having a small bar-b-que at WinterHaven this afternoon, as we weren't expecting news so soon." Quatre was speaking in friendly terms, but looking sideways at Sirius. "I hope you'll excuse me, Mr. Black, but I can not take just your word and Harry's on the subject of your innocence. And as much as I trust the Lady, her word is also not absolute. I will not stop you from attending lunch with us, as you are technically family, but I will ask that you surrender any and all weapons until you leave."

Rather than be upset or even put out, Sirius smiled. He pulled out his wand and tossed it back to Wufei. "For safe keeping?" Wufei tucked the wand into his weapons holster.

Duo looked over at Harry and Sirius and cocked his head. "Random question: How did you get in here to begin with? You're a well-known wanted fugitive – aren't there orders for you to be 'shot on sight' or something?"

Harry blanched and shot Sirius, then Lady Une horrified looks.

Heero reached over and yanked on the end of Duo's braid. "Baka. The orders are to be cautious and for police to use force only if necessary." He turned to face Harry whose eyes were still huge. "He will not be harmed, you have my word." Harry's features went from terrified to only mildly panicked, but he still kept a firm grip on his godfather's arm.

Sirius looked fondly down at his godson and gave him a quick, one-armed squeeze. He then turned to Duo, winked at him and promptly shifted into Padfoot. Harry squeaked at the loss of Siri's arm, but just grabbed the dog's scruff instead.

Duo was the first to get over his shock. He squatted down so he could look Padfoot in the eye. "So you were the 'demon dog' the secretaries were gossiping about?"

Padfoot's answer was to lick Duo's face.

Leaving Duo spluttering, Padfoot bounded over to Quatre and reared back placing his paws on the blonde's shoulders. Quatre laughed and gave the dog a good scratch behind the ears.

Une's computer chose that moment to beep again, prompting everyone in the room to begin gathering their things to leave. Wufei and Trowa moved first and headed towards the double doors they had entered through, but stopped when Une cleared her throat. "It might be in your best interest to use the back employee exit."

Heero gave her a calculating look. "That's an Agents and Personnel only, entrance Ma'am."

Une's smile was not a good one. "Yes, but I have a feeling that the MPs on the main entrances will not be very accommodating when it comes to Mr. Potter and his – dog."

Sirius flopped down from Quatre's shoulders and promptly hung his head, whining.

Perplexed the former pilots turned to Harry for an explanation, but he blushed and was determinedly not looking at them.

Duo grinned. "Oh this has got to be good! Spill, squirt!"

Harry still refused to look up, but his upbringing kicked in – he couldn't refuse to answer an adult. "We, uh, kinda didn't really go through security appropriately."

Duo snickered and walked over to Harry, throwing an arm over the younger boy's shoulders and began leading him over towards the back exit from the Director's office. "C'mon kiddo – you can tell me about it in the car."

Sirius looked up, gave a resounding bark and tore off to catch up with his best friends' sons.

Une just shook her head as the rest of the boys followed the brothers. _My life just got infinitely more complicated._

*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%

The car ride from HQ to WinterHaven was filled with only slightly uncomfortable silence, broken occasionally by Duo's random giggling. He was having a hard time getting the image of Padfoot carrying Harry, racing through the London HQ out of his head.

Harry just sat, not really making eye contact and occasionally glancing out the window. He petted his godfather to keep himself occupied. Keeping a low profile was the best way to stay out of the adults' way.

Looking out the window again, Harry noticed that the scenery and neighborhood had changed significantly. They were passing large, gated estates. He was confused for a second, then remember who they were traveling with and shook his head. _Of course, nothing but the best for the Winner Heir – and he obviously makes sure his 'family' is well looked after too._ Harry was happy that his brother at least had 'family' that looked after him now.

As they turned and started to pull into a driveway with a ridiculously ornate gate, Harry couldn't stop his jaw from dropping. Taking in the view, only one thought registered in his mind; _Damn, it'd take me __years__ to weed these gardens!_

Getting out of the car at the front door to the mansion, Duo took a quick look at his brother and couldn't contain his smile at Harry's expression. "You'll only get lost the first couple of times – after that's its easy to navigate."

Harry turned to face him and returned the smile shyly, shrugging. "The school I attend is in a castle – and the stair cases have a tendency to move at random intervals. I think I'll be ok here."

Duo's grin widened.

Padfoot then grabbed everyone's attention by leaping out of the car with a tremendous woof.

Harry spun around, grin still on his face to scold his godfather, but froze. Coming towards the group exiting the car was an enormous man – he could give Hagrid a run for his money - he had to be pushing 6'8" (205 cm). Harry took a step back and without really noticing his reaction, shrunk in on himself in an attempt to make himself invisible dropping the smile.

Duo looked from his brother to Rashid and frowned. Surreptitiously looking over at his fellow pilots, Trowa, Heero and Wufei all acknowledged the reaction. Quatre was greeting Rashid with his back to the rest of the group and therefore didn't see it.

Padfoot sidled up to Harry and sat down, tongue lolling. Duo also moved over to Harry and placed a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to reassure the teen. Duo could understand that unless you really knew the man, Rashid could be very intimidating, but he figured the best way to prove that to his skittish brother was to show him.

"Master Duo!" Rashid was feet from them now. Harry flinched back at the booming voice and backed into his brothers arms. As Duo's hand squeezed his shoulder, Harry realized what he had done and cursed himself. _I really need to stop doing that!_

Rashid noticed the youngster's reaction and understanding what it could mean, he took a half step back, leaving plenty of room between himself and the child. He knew his size was intimidating, so he relaxed his shoulders and tried to adopt a non-threatening posture.

"Master Duo, we have the grills set up on the east patio by the pool and Inaya wanted you to know that the meat is all defrosted and waiting in the main refrigerator."

"Thanks Rashid. Heero and I will take Harry here and go start cooking." Duo smiled and lightly moved his brother forward. "Rashid, I'd like you to meet my brother. Harry, this is Rashid, he's the leader of the Maguanac Corp. that serves Quatre."

Harry's eyes widened. He knew who this man was – when all the news surrounding the Gundam Pilots had hit the news, the Maguanacs had stepped forward and supported them fully.

Rashid smiled down at the boy and held out his hand.

Harry hesitated for a minute, then tentatively stepped forward and shook the man's hand. As he stepped back, he realized what his brother had said. "Just the three of us?" he turned a quizzical look towards the other pilots. "I thought it was supposed to be a bar-b-que for the whole group?"

Duo wrapped his arm around Harry's shoulders. "It is, the guys just have some last minute things to take care of first."

"Would you mind, Harry, if we borrowed Padfoot for a bit?" Quatre phrased it like a question, but it clearly wasn't.

Harry made an aborted move, as if he was going to bolt backwards, but Padfoot was still at his feet and wasn't moving. Harry looked fearfully down at his godfather for a sign of what to do. Padfoot drew himself up and gave a slight nod, while simultaneously tilting his head to the side and letting his tongue loll out – so as to still appear as a 'normal' dog.

Rashid was actually the first to respond to Quatre's inquiry. "Do you really think that wise, Master Quatre? The dog is huge and seems rather wild – are you sure it will be safe in the house?"

Harry couldn't help but grin at this. "He's fine – perfectly housebroken."

Padfoot gave him a sidelong look.

Harry just shook his head – his godfather was up to something and after his little stunt at the Preventers' Headquarters, Harry wanted nothing to do with it.

Quatre whistled, and Padfoot turned fully, licked Harry's hand and took off in a flying leap at Trowa. Rashid didn't look very happy, but conceded to Quatre's wishes.

Before he turned to follow his brother, Harry called out to Wufei. "Agent Chang?" Wufei turned back around to look at the teenager. "Please – he's all I've got left."

Wufei nodded silently in response.

When he caught up with Heero and Duo who had stopped to wait for him, Heero leaned in "He'll be fine – remember?"

Harry nodded, but still looked slightly nervous, his godfather was still a convict on the run.

Trowa straightened up and looked over at Harry, giving him an almost imperceptible nod to show that Padfoot would be safe.

Harry finally turned and followed Duo and his boyfriend into the house.

Trowa lead the group of himself, Padfoot, Quatre and Wufei to follow the other trio inside, before branching off into the main conference room in the office wing of the mansion.

%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*

Standing in the backyard, Harry took the opportunity to observe his surroundings. The back gardens were just as vast as the ones in the front of the house, but seemed more able to grow wild. They weren't as meticulously tended as the front of the house.

Duo followed his gaze. "Quatre likes to tinker around on his 'days off'. He says gardening helps him relax."

Harry nodded. "Yeah, it helps you think, gives you time – and peace and quiet - to process through things."

Heero filed that little tidbit away with the other information he had obtained that day on his boyfriend's new-found sibling. The boy was an enigma, on top of the fact that his reactions and interactions were slightly off in a way Heero didn't want to contemplate, let alone have to bring to his best friend's attention.

"So you said the school you attend is in a castle, and that the staircases move?" Heero enquired as he prepared the marinated steak tips.

Harry smiled as he continued to survey the garden. "Yea – and a lot of them have a 'trick step' too – a step that is visible, but not physically there. You can sink up to your knee into the step."

Duo cocked his head. "Isn't that kind of dangerous to have in a school?"

Harry just shrugged. "I think the teachers are trying to make sure we're always on our toes." Here, he stopped and thought before smiling wryly "Either that, or they get some form of entertainment out of watching the First and Second year students get caught – I wouldn't put that second option past a couple of the teachers." Harry's grimace told Heero and Duo that he had one (or more) particular teacher in mind.

Harry wandered over to the table, as Duo went and joined his boyfriend at the grill. Watching as Duo wrapped an arm around Heero's waist, Harry couldn't help a wistful smile. He wished he could have something like they did, but given his celebrity status he doubted he'd find someone able to look past the Boy-Who-Lived title. Harry sighed again.

Duo and Heero gravitated over to the table after setting the meat to begin cooking on the grill. As they sat down across from him, Harry fidgeted uncomfortably and searched for something to say. _Now what? It's not like I can talk about my home life._

Duo noted his brother's discomfort and chuckled. "Well, this is awkward." Heero smiled into his drink.

Harry just ducked his head shyly. "Yea, its not every day you meet family for the first time."

"So, I'm assuming you know a bit about me – us – but the media doesn't get everything right, so how about we play 20 questions and just alternate who asks?" Duo hoped he sounded as nonchalant as he felt, but he doubted it. He was interested in knowing who his brother really was, but he was also a little scared to look further into Harry's personality quirks.

Harry fidgeted. This was going to be strange. How do you tell someone about your life? About the fact that there was a madman after you or that your family regularly used you as a verbal trash bin and physical stress relief? He didn't want to dump that on his brother – he barely knew Duo and not even Ron and Hermione knew the whole story! Harry sighed – he had no idea where to start.

Figuring he would help the kid out, Duo started. "So you go to a boarding school. Do you play sports?" He paused and cocked his head "Do wizards play regular sports?

Harry grinned. This was safe territory he could genuinely gush about! "Well, not Muggle sports, though in the dorms we do talk about them. One of my dormmates, Dean, is totally enamored with the West Ham football team and he and I have gotten into a bunch of rows about that – personally, I think Chelsea is better, but I wouldn't be able to get him to see sense if I whacked him over the head with it."

"Well, I don't really follow soccer - I'm more of a Baseball person, so I can't really say anything for or against your team. But as a big brother, I think its in the rule book that I need to disagree with you." Duo grinned a Cheshire cat grin.

Harry returned the look. "Going by how my best mate and his brothers are, I think you're right. But back to the original question – there is only one big wizarding sport that I know of, Quidditch. I play seeker."

Heero looked up at that. "That sounds like a word someone made up, not a sport."

Harry laughed. "Yea, wizards are a strange bunch. But its an awesome game! See, it sorta resembles a mix of football – soccer – and American basketball." From here, Harry launched into a detailed description of the game, the field, the players and touched on the rules – those would be a bit too intricate for a beginner.

Heero chuckled at the boy's enthusiasm, as he walked back over to the grill, smiling to himself at his lover. It was good that they had gotten the kid animated finally and were also keeping him from stressing about his godfather and the other pilots. Harry seemed too old for his age as it was, it was nice to see him be such a teenager.

Going back and forth, Harry and Duo exchanged edited versions of their childhoods – Harry being more reserved about discussing his home life, decided to just stick with some of the more tame antics he had found himself part of in school.

Duo touched on his childhood, but figured his kid brother didn't need to know the gory details of growing up as a street rat. He stuck to the more innocent ones from the group homes and the Church.

Neither of the brothers were fooled into thinking the other was giving them the full truth, but it was Harry who managed to put the pieces together from his brother's stories of L2 and the church he 'had to leave' for unspecified reasons. Harry had gotten pretty good at hiding his emotions, as well as his intelligence. The Maxwell Church Massacre was widely broadcast, and even though he had been much too small to know what was going on at the time, he had studied history in school.

As they continued discussing life and teenage years, Duo noticed the far patio door opening. The rest of the pilots were walking out, but before they could all make it through the door, Harry's humongous black dog – er, godfather – came bounding out making a huge racket.

Heero looked down at his watch and realized that he, Duo and Harry had been out on the patio for just under an hour. He looked back up and caught Wufei's eye. If anyone would be able to tell him anything, it would be the Chinese pilot. Not only was he the most familiar with this new magical aspect of their lives, he was also the first one – besides Duo – that Heero turned to, to figure things out the quickest with the least amount of trouble. Trowa and Quatre were good, but for some reason, Duo and Wufei seemed to be the ones best at reading people accurately. Quatre's space heart helped, but people were such overly emotional beings, that sometimes it took him a fair amount of time to sort through their emotions before he could pin down their actual intentions.

Wufei inclined his head, and motioned to show that he no longer had Black's wand. Heero gave a curt nod back. Good. That meant that even if they couldn't trust him fully, his story, for the most part, checked out and Black would not be a threat to any of the pilot's safety.

Looking over at Harry interacting with the man-turned-dog, Heero had to hide a smile. It was clear the boy had at least one steady support in his life, despite his obvious issues. The large dog had the boy pinned on his back and was slobbering all over his charge, tail going ninety miles a minute. That was one less thing to worry about.

Watching his brother and godfather interact, Duo didn't need to see the exchange between Wufei and Heero. He could already tell the boy's tale was true, and Duo was not one to stand around for injustice. He snorted at himself there. Man, he must have been hanging around Wufei too long. At least they had a vacation coming up.

**Chapter End: TBC**

AN: it was pointed out to me that there are some discrepancies in this story – namely, Harry's knowledge of his parents' relationship before they graduated school and also Harry's 'saving people thing'… I do apologize for this. I've read the books so many times and so long ago, that all of the information sort of blends together. I will try to be more conscientious of this and try to stick to Canon through book 4 (Goblet of Fire) but feel free to point out any discrepancies you notice and I shall attempt to rectify them!

Also, I humbly apologize for the long wait! My muse has severe ADD and refuses to take her Ritalin -_-' … every time I went to write the next parts of this chapter, she jumped a couple of chapters and went "I would really like to see this scene play out like this!" she's stubborn. I also didn't have a very good idea of how and where I wanted this chapter to go, so that didn't help either.

So now for the good news and bad news; Good News: I just got a new job! Bad News: this means that updates will not be regular, sorry! Until I settle in, I'm not sure I can update on a regular basis, as I had planned. I also need to go back and go over my notes to see where I wanted this story to go for the next couple of chapters, as my muse has insisted on jumping to when Harry is back in school – and I hadn't anticipated that for another 2-3 chapters down the line -_-'… the good news is that I have a vacation coming up at the end of May, so I should be able to get some more stuff written soon!

Thank you all for sticking with me and all the faves, alerts and reviews! I'm so glad you enjoy this story as much as I am loving creating it! :3

1 – Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix; chapter 37, page 841


	6. Chapter 6

**Family Means Nobody Gets Left Behind**

By: ForeversNobody

**Rating/Warning:** uuuuummmm, imma have to go with M, just cuz I like to swear and also, I plan on making this a slash fic and therefore give as many lemons (and limes) as I want and/or as my readers request… I will warn you at the beginning of chapters which ones will contain lemons/limes

_Blah_ = thinking

(***blushes*** sry this wasn't in other chapters! But I'm sure you're all smart enough to have figured that out ***winks***)

**Authors Ramblings:** so, thanks to TrenchCoatMan forgiving me wonderful ideas and thanks to Masked_Fool for kick starting my muse again! This chapter was easier to write and chapter 7 is coming along nicely as well!

So sorry for the exceedingly long wait… I unfortunately lost the new job shortly after my last post and life just kinda went to shit from there… Its picked back up again, but is still kinda hectic, and though I do have a general idea on what I want to see happen, I have discovered that even though I kinda have a general idea on what I want to happen in this story, I really have no effin clue how to go about it _ so I need to sit down and actually write an outline, and in the mean time am just going chapter by chapter… so, if I accidentally miss something or forget to elaborate on a particular topic, feel free to call me on it (I have a spacey memory, lol)

So, without further adieu! ^_^

**Pairing(s):**yeeeeeeaaaaa – imma let you figure that out on your own for now ;)

**Summary**: He had given up on wishing for a new family years ago – long before he found out he was a wizard and the horrible truth about what had happened to his parents. But sometimes, Gods are just as good at procrastinating as humans – but they get to their duties, eventually.

* * *

_Chapter 6:_

Duo sat staring at his computer, supposedly working on his paperwork, but really contemplating the outing with his brother later in the day. He had promised Harry that they would go out shopping, and Duo was hoping he could surprise his brother with a game for his vid system. Harry had taken a liking to Duo's ancient PS3 and had expressed an interest in an old vid game called Initial D: Extreme Stage. Harry had been flabbergasted to know that Duo had managed to rebuild the ancient game system and found a way to install the games on its miniscule hard drive.

Duo smiled. He thoroughly enjoyed trouncing his little brother at vid games, but Harry was catching up – Duo knew it wouldn't be much longer before Harry could actually beat him.

Duo frowned. He shouldn't have had to teach his 15yr old brother how to use a game controller, but Duo suspected the lack of entertainment Harry had as a child was the least of his problems. Harry's physical and emotional responses were too obvious to ignore, but Duo knew confronting his brother out-right about the abuse and neglect would only set Harry on the defensive.

However, Duo was too worried about his brother's safety to just let Harry come to him in his own time. He figured attempting to broach the topic slowly and methodically over the next couple of days would be the best approach. He was still unsure _how_ exactly to bring the subject up. _I'll just have to play it by ear, I guess._

Glancing up again at his paperwork, Duo sighed and resisted slamming his head against his desktop – he still had mounds of work to go through.

He resolved himself to at least a couple more hours worth of headache-inducing work, then reacted instinctively and ducked suddenly to avoid the projectile aimed at his head. He grinned triumphantly as the wadded paper ball bounced harmlessly off his monitor.

He spun around and shot a smile at his partner. "Ha! Missed again! Maybe you should head down to the range – you seem to be getting rusty." Duo said, smiling in his friend's direction, despite the withering look he was on the receiving end of.

"Maxwell, that paperwork will not do itself – and it is due today. Une will not let you leave without submitting it," Wufei's glare deepened. "And I don't know about you, but would rather not be stuck here any longer than I have to on a Friday, especially since we actually have the whole weekend off, for once."

Duo sent him a dismissive wave before spinning his chair back around. _Back to chipping away at the old grindstone_. Still typing, Duo grinned. Maybe he could get Harry into old vids, as well as old games?

* * *

Rinsing off the last dish, Harry dried his hands and swung the rag back onto the oven handle, absentmindedly arranging it exactly as Aunt Petunia had instructed as a child. Folding it incorrectly would result in punishment and increased chores.

Mentally going over what was left of his chore list for the day, Harry smiled to himself. All he really had was the laundry, gardening and picking up after Dudley – when he and his friends finally left to hit the cinema for Pier's birthday.

Duo was supposed to be over to pick him up after dinner, so as long as Harry cleaned up while he cooked, he wouldn't be late.

Harry's smile grew slightly at that thought, before disappearing again. He was happy to spend time with his brother, but he was also worried – Ron and Hermione hadn't been writing often and what they had been writing wasn't much or very informative. It was frustrating, but also worrying.

Harry was sure Dumbledore had something going on, he definitely had Sirius and Remus running around. Sirius had told him that he was going to get Remus and then might be out of contact for a bit. He just wished he was as included as his friends seemed to be. Harry shook his head; this summer was no different from the others, so there was no reason to work himself up over it. He sighed, put the cleaning supplies away and trudged upstairs to get the laundry started.

* * *

The cottage he was staying in was pitch black, and for a moment he couldn't decipher what had woken him. Climbing out of bed and heading towards the heavily curtained window, Remus Lupin pulled them aside and deduced that it was roughly 3am.

Immediately on the defensive, he carefully turned around and listened for whatever had woken him. Hearing the tell-tale clicking on the hardwood floors outside his room, he padded back over to the bed to burrow back under the covers for a couple more hours.

Remus had all but drifted back off when something uncomfortably wet and cold shoved into his ear and began snuffling.

Swearing under his breath, he shoved Padfoot off the bed – grinning to himself as the dog landed with a muted yelp in an undignified heap on the floor. Ignoring the indignant look he knew he was getting from the animagus, Remus flipped his best friend the bird. (1) "Bugger off, you great oaf. You can come back and bug me later – at a _decent_ hour."

Padfoot's snuffling laughter followed him out of the room, getting softer as the dog disappeared to the other side of the house.

**GW*HP*GW*HP**

Hours later, Remus woke to the sounds and smells of bacon and eggs cooking over the range drifting through the still open bedroom door.

Remus pulled himself out of bed and padded down the hall towards the kitchen and the delicious smelling foods. Stopping at the doorway, he couldn't help but grin at his best friends' antics.

Sirius was puttering around the kitchen, cooking and setting the table. He was practically bouncing, using the balls of his feet to propel himself around the kitchen, rather than just walking like a normal person. Remus wondered why that thought had crossed his mind, because none of the Marauders could ever have been classified as normal.

Remus' soft laugh at this though caused Sirius to spin around and grin at his best friend. He bounded over and ushered the wolf into one of the kitchen chairs. He really just wanted to blurt out the _amazing_ news to Remus, but Siri would rather his friend was sitting and had a decent amount of sugar in his system first, lest he faint and hit the floor.

The image of Remus' eyes going wide just before he collapsed like some fairytale maiden had Sirius snickering quietly to himself as he dished out their food.

Quirking an eyebrow at his friend's insanity, Remus decided he'd rather just eat his food than try and decipher what had the animagus so happy. He'd known the Black Heir long enough to realize the man had something he was bursting to share, but also knew that any attempts to drag it out of him would only lead to a headache. So he ate his breakfast and let Sirius stew.

By the time they finished the meal, Sirius was excited, yet nervous. He remembered enough of what the woman Une had told him to explain and he knew Remus was more educated than he in all things muggle, but he still felt it would be a difficult topic to broach and explain.

With a quick wand flick, the dishes were sent to the sink where they began to gently clean themselves before going to rest in the drying rack. The men made their way into the sitting room for tea and so Sirius could get what was obviously bugging him off his chest.

"You're worse than a five year old with a secret when you know something other people don't, you realize?" Remus said as he smiled indulgently at his friend.

Sirius again ushered Remus into a seat in the sitting room and presented him with his second cup of tea. As he sat down opposite the werewolf, his demeanor seemed to deflate slightly.

"Ok, so this is going to be a difficult conversation and probably awkward as well, so just bear with me, ya?" Sirius forced himself to speak as a eloquently as he had been taught growing up in The Most Noble and Ancient House of Black, if he didn't, he was sure he begin babbling and making less sense than usual, especially considering the muggle terminology he had to remember and use. "I went to visit Harry before meeting you here, because he sent me a strange – and at the time disturbing – letter."

Remus perked up at that. "Is he ok?" he interrupted. "Do we need to get him out of there early again? He hasn't gone and gotten himself in trouble with the ministry again, has he?"

Sirius held up his hands to fend off the tirade of questions – he knew trying to speak over Remus would be nigh impossible. "He's fine – as fine as he can be, considering the arrangements."

Both of them knew there was little they could do – that they hadn't already _tried_ – to convince Dumbledore to get Harry away from the Dursleys.

Remus quieted at the gesture and Siri decided he'd better just spit it out. "He sent me a letter asking if he had another sibling, Remy." Sirius said somberly.

Stunned, Remus sagged back into his chair with a mix of emotions playing across his face. "How –" he cut himself off with a shake of his head. "No one knew, Pads, not even _Dumbledore_, so how did Harry find out? And what in Merlin's name do we tell him?"

Sirius had to brace himself mentally and physically for the next part of the conversation. "Because the muggles found Callum and contacted Petunia and Harry to notify them."

Remus sagged even further into the chair he was sitting in and closed his eyes against the mental pain. "But – the fire – they said there was nothing – nothing –" Remus choked on the last part as his heart seemed to be lodged in his throat. "Did they… what about… Cameron and Sophia? Did they –" he cut off again, unable to continue.

Sirius immediately realized his mistake and leaned forward to grasp his friends' hands. "No, Moony – Callum is alive and working at something called preventers –"

The animagus was cut off as he was leveled with a heated look.

"_Don't._" The single word uttered was meant to get his best friend to stop – just _stop_, because Remus couldn't handle it all.

"Remy, this isn't some joke or – or royal mix up," Sirius stopped, hoping this would convince him. "He looks just like Lily, Rem. If Harry is the spitting image of James, Callum – Duo, as he goes by now – is as close to Lily as he can get, given that he's a boy." Sirius gave a lopsided grin, hoping to get Remus to believe him.

Remus was staring at him now, his expression shifting too rapidly for Sirius to follow.

"Sirius, this– you don't – how –" Remus was unable to get a full thought to form, let alone emerge from his mouth. His mind was churning and jumping around in too much of a mess to make any sort of sense.

Sitting back, Sirius haltingly tried to explain everything that had happened while he was visiting his godson – from the letter, through their meeting with Une and the explanations she had given to Sirius on how they found Callum.

Remus' mind was reeling, but it froze and locked on to one name. "Wait, Une? Lady Ann Une? The _Director_ of the Preventers?"

Sirius stopped talking and looked at Remus, slightly confused as to why his friend had latched on to that small part. "Um, she introduced herself as Lady Une, Director, so that could be her full name and title, but I'm not sure, why?"

Bewildered still, the werewolf tried to explain his bafflement. "Usually families are notified by the Board that is running the F.R.A., which I believe is located in Scotland. Besides, wouldn't the Director of the main peace keeping organization have more pressing things to attend to than facilitating a family reunion?"

Sirius contemplated this before shrugging. "I would assume so, but Callum is apparently one of her top agents." Pausing to think, Sirius continued "She explained that she had notified him and his 'brothers' because besides being her top agents, they were important to her. She also tried to explain, after Harry's outburst confused me, how they made it to said positions, but she lost me. I don't know a lot of muggle terminology, but I thought I knew enough to get by in a regular conversation, but apparently that doesn't apply to the military. I sort of know what a pilot is, but I've never heard the word Gundam before – ever – so I was kinda lost as to how they were connected." Sirius shrugged, but then really looked at his friend. "What?"

Remus was stock still, his tea cup in danger of crashing to the floor. "You said Duo, earlier?" Sirius nodded, still lost. "Cal – Callum goes by – _is_ – D-Duo Maxwell?" Moony finally managed to get out, as he used a trembling hand to set his cup on the table.

"Yea, wh- How'd you know his full name?" Sirius was confused and also slightly worried at the werewolf's tone – and his complexion, which was paler than Malfoy's.

"Sirius, do you have any idea – no, of course you don't." Remus forced himself to stop and order his thoughts. Things were confusing enough without adding to the growing jumble that was this conversation. "Callum – Duo Maxwell and his friends, family, are heroes. They pretty much – singlehandedly – saved the planet." Remus leaned forward to look directly in his oldest friends' eyes, as Padfoot still looked confused. "Lets simplify this for you – if those boys hadn't succeeded, none of us would have to worry about Voldemort – because the muggles were on the verge of _destroying the planet_ and since wizards haven't worked out how to survive in space, as a _species_ we would have been annihilated."

Sirius just goggled at that. "The muggles have that kind of fire power? To be able to destroy the _Earth?!_"

Remus was glad his friend had finally grasped the severity of the situation and was glad to see the dawning awe and horror reflecting in Sirius's eyes. Too many witches and wizards underestimated the muggles – it was a dangerous way of thinking.

"And those boys – the Gundam Pilots – stopped it not once, but three times." Remus paused here; he needed a way to make this compatible to wizard standards. "Ok, think of it this way – what Harry is to Voldemort. Supposedly he's the only one who can defeat the bastard right?" Sirius nodded, so Remus continued. "So the Gundam Pilots (Harry) don't have a prophesy, but were forced to fight against not only the Alliance (the ministry), but also Oz (Voldemort) and to top it off, White Fang (the Order) joined in the mix to 'help', but also had their own agenda (2)."

Sirius just sat there, flabbergasted. "So. They're heroes?" he wondered aloud.

Remus gave a sad smile at this. "Not exactly, some people consider them murderers. And that story was only the first two parts of the war. Oz and White Fang kept vacillating between supporting the Gundams and deeming them murderers, then trying to kill them."

Sirius was properly horrified at this, but it also put Duo's reaction to Harry knowing the prophesy into perspective. Sirius had to resist the urge to punch something. _Those boys, no __men__, did not deserve that. It's the same thing people are doing to Harry. Apparently being a Potter means you don't get a break._ He wished he could have helped them like he was attempting to help his godson, because no child should be exposed to the horrors of war.

Then Sirius perked up a bit. Maybe these pilots could help him with Harry. He had to physically drag his consciousness back to the conversation with Remus, away from the spinning ideas on how to prepare his godson for what the wizarding world wanted from him. "So that's why Une was involved?"

Remus gave a slightly hysterical laugh at the statement. "Yea, Pads, that's why. She's particularly fond of those boys now."

Sirius was confused all over again. "Now?"

Remus sat back in his chair – _when had he leaned forward?_ And grabbed his now cold tea. Casting a quick warming charm over it he marshaled his thoughts. Explaining this fiasco could take all day. "Ok, pretty much since the space colonies were created, they were ruled by the Governments on Earth that had 'owned' them – and they did not appreciate that. They wanted to be independent from the laws on Earth…" (3)

Even as his brain was sorting through and filtering the facts through his mouth – details, dates, battles, sides and near-death experiences – one thought was on quiet repeat, echoing through his mind. _Callum is __alive__ – I'll be able to meet my godson._ He smiled.

* * *

Harry sighed heavily as he once again finished the last of Dudley's dishes and placed it in the rack to dry. He leaned over the sink and closed his eyes – he needed to go upstairs and change before Duo got there. A quick glance at the clock confirmed he had only fifteen minutes before his brother was due to grab him.

Harry ran some quick mental calculations to determine if he would have enough time to steal some pain killers without his relatives noticing and still have them kick in before Duo got there.

He figured the first was more than possible, as his Aunt and Uncle were in the family room, glued to the TV, as usual and Dudley was out for the night. As for them kicking in, he was skeptical. Usually it took about an hour or so for them to become effective. _`Oh well, just have to be cautious for a bit._

Harry straightened back out and replaced the towel. He was still babying his ankle even thought he was ninety percent sure it was healed and his ribs only bothered him if he shifted quickly in just the right way. Due to the speed at which they healed, Harry determined that they hadn't actually been broken – there may have been a hairline fracture, but most likely they were just really bruised. Thank Merlin.

He resisted the urge to shake his head – he could see straight and nothing was blurry so he didn't have a concussion, but the cuff, courtesy of Uncle Vernon, was still painful. Harry was sure he would have a decent sized lump come morning. Uncle Vernon had claimed he 'sassed' his aunt when she was complaining the garden wasn't cleaned up properly, but by this point in his life, Harry knew his relatives just made up reasons to blame him.

Just because he knew Dumbledore was right and that his 'home' with the muggles was the only safe place for him, didn't stop Harry from wishing desperately to be able to leave.

He grabbed clean clothes and ran for the bathroom. He used the noise of the shower spray to cover the sound of the medicine cabinet opening and used the cool water to wash pills down. Spinning the knob so the water was scalding, he stepped under the stream and let the pressure and sound drown out everything – including his thoughts.

He was just pulling on a clean shirt when he heard the doorbell. He couldn't stop the mad grin from forming – apparently he had been spending too much time with his godfather.

He was down the stairs and at the door before his Uncle had even emerged from the family room, _no surprise there._

Duo looked up as the door opened and without even realizing it, his grin broadened at the sight of his brother. _And man, isn't that still a weird thought,_ he contemplated as his brother returned the grin. His smile didn't falter until he saw his uncle glowering at the two of them.

Harry heard first his uncle, and then his aunt enter the hallway and didn't have to turn around to confirm that neither of them was happy to see their other nephew, even though they _knew_ he was coming.

Blatantly ignoring the Dursleys, Duo quickly scanned Harry. The younger boy seemed to be looking and feeling better – at least, he wasn't obviously favoring anything. He was no longer holding himself stiffly and was using both feet to hold his full weight. It looked like the kid was on the mend – Duo hoped it stayed that way, but knew better.

Ending his scrutiny, Duo turned his attention to his now scowling relatives. He had to fight a smirk – they really were a sad example of humanity. And he could honestly not see how his Aunt could stomach the sight, let alone presence, of her whale husband. Especially if he stayed that horrid purple colour his skin seemed to be stuck in.

"You ready, kiddo?" Duo asked Harry.

Harry nodded enthusiastically, but was stopped from bolting out the door at a hand on his shoulder.

"I don't want you coming in and out at all hours, fr- _boy_. You be back at a decent hour, you hear?" Vernon finished off his mini rant with a mild shake to Harry's still captive shoulder, as his face darkened to a shade closer to violet.

Duo reached out and pulled his brother the rest of the way out of the house – and out of their Uncle's reach – to stand next to him. Neither boy had missed Vernon's slip, but while Harry was used to it and ready to just brush it off and go enjoy his evening, Duo was not so inclined.

Making sure he was between the younger boy and his guardians, Duo faced the Dursleys. "We've had this outing planned for a couple of days, and you've known about it the whole time, so you well know that we do not have a set time to be back. Harry will be back this evening, but I won't guarantee it will be at a decent hour. However, I can guarantee that he will not _disturb _you upon returning to your residence." Duo stepped closer and continued. "Some friends of mine are gathering at the Preventers Firing Range Training Center and then heading out for dinner – we may or may not join them. That all depends on how the first half of the evening goes."

Harry looked startled and turned to face Duo. That was new; he hadn't mentioned that to Harry when they had spoken earlier in the week. When Harry looked back up at his aunt and uncle and realized that his brother was saying that just to get a rise out of the Dursleys, he turned quickly and walked down the path, shoving a fist in his mouth to stifle his laughter.

Petunia and Vernon were just staring, gob-smacked, at Duo.

Duo switched his glare for a cheery grin. "Bye! Enjoy your quiet evening!" He then spun on his heel and trotted after his brother.

Getting into the drivers side of the car, Duo and Harry barely looked at each other before they burst out laughing.

"So I take it we're really not going to the shooting range?" Harry attempted to ask innocently, but failed, as he was still snickering occasionally.

"Well, we could, but we'd have to break in as its closing down for the night soon. I _did_ have an invite for us from Heero and Trowa, and I _did_ say we might be able to make it, but made no promises." Duo's smile was almost feral as he filled his brother in, pulling away from the curb "Before we get going, though, I wanted to go see Tommy - he called last night."

Harry perked up. Tommy was Duo's contact that worked at an electronics store in the center of the city. He didn't know how or why his brother got into it, but Duo had a mild (read: impulsive) obsession with all forms of ancient technology. The fact that he had a working PS3 and something called a VHS player, that Tommy was still trying to jury-rig to work, spoke volumes about his obsession.

"Oh, yea? Did he get that old vid player working yet?" Harry asked skeptically as he stared at the passing scenery.

Duo shook his head. "Not yet, but he says he's close. He did tell me he found that game you asked about last time, though."

Harry turned around in his seat – now he was really excited. "Seriously?! Nice!" Duo had found a list of games for the old PS3 console and it had taken them a couple hours to narrow it down to games they would both play.

Harry had no interest in most of the first-person shooter games, as they were just too gory for his taste, plus he had enough fighting in reality to worry about without adding it into his 'down time' too. There was also the fact that Harry was pretty confident he would never win a shooting match against his brother. Ever.

They had finally settled on a racing game. Harry still wasn't all that confident in the likelihood of winning even that game, but thought he might have a better chance considering they were both very experienced at running and finding the best routes between hiding places. Harry was also relying on the fact that neither of them had ever played before and even though Harry had never touched a vid console before meeting Duo, his superior hand-eye coordination more than made up for that.

The game they had decided on was a racing game called Initial D: Extreme Stage. It was apparently based off a pre-colony Japanese anime. Pulling up at the shop, Harry had his belt undone and was out of the car before Duo had even finished turning it off.

Duo shook his head. That was kind of a crazy move, as he had barely put the car in park before Harry leapt out, but he also wasn't that upset. He was just glad to see his brother acting like a teenager should.

Sedately following him into the shop, Duo found his brother at the counter talking animatedly with Tommy and clutching the game to his chest. Harry was practically vibrating with excitement. Duo, chuckling, pulled out his wallet and proceeded to the counter.

**GW*HP*GW*HP**

Later, after exhausting themselves, Harry and Duo relaxed on the patio out by the pool. They had played long enough to cause both of their hands to cramp from the awkward positions required for the queer controllers (seriously? People used those little things to control characters? VR was sooo much better). Now they were just chilling and having dinner, watching the stars come out over the tree tops.

Harry was thoroughly enjoying the cheeseburger he was eating, while still being cautious of the fact that because it was summer, his stomach could only handle a certain amount at a time.

While eating here at Winter Haven, Harry had taken to breaking his food up into many little bites, so as to conceal the fact that he could only ingest a minute amount of the food they offered him. So engrossed in his ministrations, Harry didn't notice his brother's scrutiny.

Duo was monitoring how much Harry actually ate, despite his brother's attempts at subterfuge. Quatre had pointed out, after the first time the pilots had witnessed Harry's eating ritual, that these actions were ones typically adopted by people suffering from anorexia nervosa in an attempt to control their weight gain.

Duo had heartily disagreed with Quatre and gone on to explain that between his own and the other pilots' observations, this was something Harry did to stop his stomach from rebelling.

Duo explained it as a technique he and the other orphans had employed when they first arrived at the Church. Unused to the amount of food, it had taken them all no small amount of time to get their bodies to adjust to the larger portions, as well as the steady amount of food available.

Duo had also scowled and noted that this behavior increased incrementally over the last month, indicating that Harry _could_ eat normally, but for some reason was unable to during the summer. "_I'll give you three guesses as to what that is._" Wufei had remarked, scathingly.

"It's really peaceful here." Harry commented around a yawn, as he pushed his finished meal away.

Duo estimated his brother had eaten half of the meal, so refrained from commenting on it. "That's like the fourth time you've yawned in the last half hour. Tired much?" Duo quirked a half grin at his brother to show he was teasing.

Full and still mostly focused on the serene atmosphere, Harry's mouth answered before his brain could process the response and filter it. "Yea, that's what happens when you're up at the crack of dawn every day to do chores – that usually last past 10pm too."

Duo didn't respond immediately, his brother had just spoken more about his home life in that once sentence than the rest of the summer combined. Maybe now Duo could coax some more out of him? If he could get the kid to admit to _anything_ that went on in that house, they maybe he and the other pilots could finally do something about Harry's living arrangements.

Cautiously optimistic, Duo asked, "Is it like that every summer?"

Still not really paying attention and now leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed, Harry's mouth once again answered without his brains permission, "Yea, pretty much – except when I can escape to the Weasley's for the last week or so."

Duo decided to press his luck. "And what happens if you don't finish your chores that day?"

This finally snapped Harry into the conversation. He sat up and turned away from his brother. "I get punished, nothing out of the ordinary." He said darkly.

"Really?" Duo retorted

Harry looked over at his brother and considered his options. He'd figured out late in primary school that his living situation wasn't normal, but it wasn't until he reached Hogwarts – and the Weasley family – that he realized the way his relatives acted towards him and treated him was wrong.

He'd told Dumbledore about his home life, but the man had brushed him off and made him go back year after year, so Harry hadn't said anything again. After all, he didn't want to be a bother – and having the Weasleys take him in for that last week was a real treat.

Harry shrugged and averted his eyes. "I get punished, typical, right?" He reiterated

Duo snorted. "So you get grounded – not allowed to watch the telly or play vids?" he asked sarcastically.

Harry gave him a quizzical look. _Those are odd punishments._

When Harry still wasn't forth coming with answers, Duo pressed harder. "Seriously, what is your punishment for not finishing the house chores, Harry?"

Harry sighed. There was no point holding back if the man really wanted to know. Dumbledore hadn't done anything and never gave in when the Weasleys offered to have him for the whole summer, so there was no chance Duo could do anything. Harry just hated the looks he got when people found out about the Dursleys.

"Usually no dinner – sometimes, if Uncle Vernon is feeling especially mad, I get locked in the cup- my bedroom for the next day."

Duo got up from the table and stalked away. Harry had corrected himself, and Duo didn't need three guesses as to why – or what he had been about to say. He was furious and wanted to get himself under control before confronting his brother.

Harry watched Duo pace and mutter to himself. _Well._ This was a new reaction; Harry had no idea how to classify it. _Is mad at me?_ Harry wracked his brain._ What did I say wrong this time?_

Finally exhausting his rather extensive vocabulary, Duo returned to the table. He scooted his chair around the table so he was right in front of his younger brother. He gently turned the chair with Harry in it so the boy was looking at the pilot.

"Harry, that's not a 'normal' punishment for not finishing chores. Furthermore, the amount of _chores_ you do – by yourself – isn't normal either." Duo said firmly, but gently.

Harry kept trying to look away, he didn't like the scrutiny and he was unused to people being that close to him for extended periods of time. Duo, however, was not having it. Every time Harry shifted his eyes, Duo got right back in his field of vision. "Why haven't you said anything before?"

At this, Harry yanked his chin out of his brother's hand and spun himself away – he needed more space or he was going to suffocate; at least, that's what it felt like. It was puzzling Harry, Duo's reaction. He couldn't figure the other boy out. "I know I do more work than the average person, but its nothing - why are you making such a big deal out of this?"

Duo's heart broke at that statement. The fact that the kid was honestly confused as to why someone cared about him made Duo want to burst into tears – and Duo Maxwell never cried. It took him another minute to get his emotions back under control. "Because, kiddo, child abuse is _not_ something anyone should take lightly."

Harry blanched and whipped his head back around to look at Duo, "Hang on! I don't get hit that often – usually only when things get really bad, like when I blew up Aunt Marge."

Duo grabbed Harry's chair and forcibly spun it back around. "Abuse comes in all forms, kiddo, not just physical – but the manual labour the Dursleys make you do, on top of locking you in a cupboard, _is_ physical abuse. For that matter, so is starving a child."

Harry looked down at his hand and said in a barely audible voice, "I did say something, but Dumbledore just kept sending me back, so I figured I was wrong and that it was ok – or something like that."

"Well its _not_." Duo grabbed Harry's shoulders, startling the poor kid into looking his brother in the eyes. "We'll figure something out, ok? I'll speak to Lady Une tomorrow and we'll definitely have a plan by tomorrow night, ok?"

Harry nodded but wouldn't verbally answer or look back up. He had already said something and if the elderly wizard wasn't going to do anything, Harry seriously doubted there was anything the muggles could do about it.

Duo sighed. He knew his brother didn't believe him, but Duo wasn't taking no for an answer. He glanced at his watch and swore. He needed to get Harry home. "C'mon kiddo, time to go – but this isn't over, ok?"

Harry just nodded again as he stood up, still not looking at his brother.

**GW*HP*GW*HP**

The street lamp in front of number four illuminated the front door perfectly, allowing Duo to watch from across the street to make sure Harry got in the house ok. He wouldn't put it past the assholes to lock their nephew outside for the night.

Duo tracked Harry's progress – in the door and into the family room. His silhouette stayed there for a couple minutes, before disappearing again. Allowing for time to traverse the house, and ascend the stairs, Duo locked his gaze on the window he knew was Harry's room. A minute later, a dim lamp that reminded Duo more of candle light, rather than electricity, illuminated the window and Harry's silhouette again.

Shinigami fought Duo for dominance, as the pilot struggled to control himself. _That's __**it**__. I'm calling Une __tonight._ He was getting the kid out of that house permanently tomorrow. Turning around and hopping in the car, Duo had to stop and count to ten – in English, Japanese and Arabic before he felt he could safely start the car and drive off.

Even as he drove away, the image of the lit-up window frame with its shredded casing kept flashing in his minds eye. He had broken out of too many old Earth jail cells not to. Something had obviously been ripped from the frame by sheer brute force, practically decimating the wood. But Duo knew what had once been there.

* * *

A/N: … how much do you guys hate me for the long wait? *is sheepish*

**P.P.S.((sorry this is not an update! i'm almost done with chapter 7, i just needed to edit this chapter first!))**

p.s. this chapter is un-beta-d cuz I figured you'd want the chapter first – after Masked_Fool and Lightening_Skies fix my issues, I'll repost! ^_^

An insulting gesture; in the USA, the middle finger (aimed at a person or object) in the UK, the pointer and middle fingers [I believe – correct me if im wrong ^_^]

Um, yea, like I said before, I haven't watched the series in a couple of years, so I could be remembering this wrong, but I wont think so

For a full synopsis of the Gundam Wing series – and the reasons behind the Wars – go here: ** www. / title/tt0176379 / plotsummary ; en. wikipedia wiki/ Mobile_ Suit_ Gundam_ Wing**… its waaaaaaay too involved and convoluted for me to explain here -_-'


End file.
